The Works Sydney taps into our primal side for their latest campaign for spirits brand Jim Beam, It’s Time. Centring on TVCs featuring a variety of fit, young folk unleashing their inner beasts with wild animal calls, the campaign launched in Sydney with a teaser stunt featuring calls of the wild unexpectedly blared over speakers at a number of public venues.

This month, however, the campaign turned social with the Wall of Calls app hosted on Jim Beam Australia’s Facebook page.  The idea is simple: You call, they shout. 

Until 23 May 2012, Jim Beam’s fans have been invited to upload videos of themselves unleashing their own crazy call for a chance to win one of 1,000 six-packs of Jim Beam White and Cola.

Creative collaboration

The campaign was executed as a collaboration between The Works Sydney, Jim Beam, their media agency Unity, Mosaic Films, and director Tim Brown.

“For the conception of the idea we worked very closely with the Brand Director at Beam, Ray Noble and then we partnered with Mosiac Films to produce the AV content,” says Damian Pincus, Creative Partner and Founder of The Works Sydney. “Tim Brown – a UK based director – came over to shoot the ad and all digital and online production was done in-house.”

The Works played the central role in developing the campaign’s creative concept and worked hand in hand with Unity to think through all the various community channels where the campaign might live. 

TV to find the masses, social media to keep them

The It’s Time campaign uses in-your-face TVCs to drive audience interest and talkability, while the social media aspect, the Wall of Calls Facebook app, makes sure people have the chance to interact directly with the brand and maintain interest.

Featuring a slick interface displaying a mosaic of uploaded content, users can browse, watch, share and comment upon the user-submitted calls of the wild (and hope their own entry wins them a free six-pack).

“Ultimately a lot of the effort has been put on the Wall of Calls as this is the conductor to help people share and interact with the brand,” says Pincus.

A tactical approach

According to Pincus, It’s Time was conceived as a more tactical campaign squared at Jim Beam RTD drinkers in the 18-25 year old male demographic. 

“The previous campaign had broader appeal across male and females that drink Beam and was more relevant to the brand and the positioning, The Bourbon,” says Pincus. “This campaign is just part of the new story for Jim Beam as it begins to launch some exciting new products.”

Aims and measurements

Jim Beam’s key aim with the campaign was, predictably, to sell more product and increase frequency and occasions, but Pincus points out there are also other important brand measures that the It’s Time campaign aims to positively impact.

“We were looking for a way to make people feel something,” says Pincus.  “This is one of the hardest things to do. The Rugby World Cup was on at the time of the development of the campaign and the Haka featured a lot. We loved the feeling this created. This began the inspiration for this route. The most important factor for any brand is to do work that people talk about and share,” says Pincus. “It’s getting harder to stand out so this is an important aim. 

The campaign’s success will be measured across social media metrics, qualitative and quantitative research, and Roy Morgan market findings.

Outcomes

With the campaign ongoing until the end of May, findings on key outcomes aren’t yet definitive. However, The Works Sydney reports a significant increase in consumer engagement with the brand, particularly in the social media sphere.

So far there has been a 500% increase in Facebook likes, a 36% increase in content discussions on Facebook, as well as a 141% boost to Jim Beam’s Facebook page views.

If the campaign can maintain stats like that, The Works Sydney will no doubt have Jim Beam bellowing their own calls of joy from the rooftops.