Beer marketing in Sweden is challenging, with highly restrictive legislation in place for all alcohol campaigns, outdoor and print advertising for example is against the law, however PR and social media are channels where alcohol promotion is permitted, and it was vital to create an engaging story, supported by a marketing plan that would drive social media engagement and maximise the earned media potential.

The ‘Imagine & Gunn’ campaign was developed in response to this challenge, and by putting a beer fan at the heart of the story, the brand connected with consumers and generated engagement by building an intriguing human rather than just product story. In terms of craft brewing credentials, barrel-ageing is what Innis & Gunn is best known for in Sweden and this was a key message in the campaign, the winning beer would be barrel-aged which introduced the benefits of barrel-ageing from a flavour perspective into a consumer press story.

The campaign was rooted in and guided by the idea of collaboration: ask the Swedish public to share their imaginative new beer ideas, put them out to a public vote, bring the winner together with our Founder and Master Brewer Dougal Gunn Sharp to develop the recipe and brew the beer, and then sell the beer with the winner’s name on it across Sweden. 

From hundreds of entries, I&G Founder Dougal and his brewers shortlisted ten new beer ideas for the public in Sweden to vote for a winner. After thousands of votes were cast, the clear winner was Mika and his idea for a Barrel Aged Jalepeno and Vanilla Imperial Stout. Mika came over to Scotland to brew his beer with Dougal at The Innis & Gunn Brewery, creating an opportunity for us to capture rich content to tell the story of Mika’s Choice. 

The film we made of Mika’s brew day formed the central element of our launch plan on social media. Bringing the idea of Imagine & Gunn to life with the winner at the heart of the film saw the passion for this collaboration, and the genuine joy from Mika and his sense of pride in doing this for Sweden, deliver an emotive and highly engaging content piece, whilst showcasing the craftsmanship that goes into Innis & Gunn brewing and barrel-ageing processes.

Watch Mika’s Choice

The personal narrative of the story coupled with the public interest as Sweden had voted for this beer, meant that our media coverage spanned the entire campaign from launch to the winning beer release, generating news and feature coverage with local and national consumer titles. Just prior to the beer going on general sale, we launched by inviting Mika to host tastings at the Innis & Gunn stand at the Stockholm Beer and Whiskey Festival, the highest profile consumer and trade event for the brand in Sweden.

The campaign was Innis & Gunn’s most successful to date in the market with 77 pieces of coverage, and delivered against the objective to increase our brand profile and promote barrel-ageing credentials with almost 70% of the coverage carrying at least three key messages, and was the key driver of an increase of 68% on our social reach vs the previous 12 month period. Mika’s Choice sold out, and in some stores was our fastest selling limited edition ever in the market with stock selling out in under three weeks, whilst also selling at a 19% higher RSP than core craft beer.

Rounding off the campaign in style, Mika’s Choice won Gold for International Marketing at the Marketing Society Scotland Awards in 2018.