Jonzed: One Night. So Many Mistakes. Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Transcription

1 Jonzed: One Night. So Many Mistakes. Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Need/Opportunity / Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC), the fourth largest business and largest single banner retailer in Nova Scotia, manages the sale of alcoholic beverages in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada, generating almost CDN$200 million in profit annually. NSLC employs more than 1,500 Nova Scotians and offers 5,900 products from around the globe through 161 retail locations and 2,100 licensed establishments. The organisation s mandate to promote responsible consumption of alcoholic beverages is both legislated provincially and embraced year-round by employees. The 2008 Jonzed campaign, developed by Revolve, delivered in an unexpected and humorous way, the message that binge drinking is not an acceptable behaviour. University students (19 26 years old) are most likely to participate in binge drinking; therefore, timing this campaign to the academic calendar at the eight universities and colleges in Nova Scotia was crucial to NSLC s success. This demographic assumes their alcohol consumption is controllable, and they do not make the connection that their drinking patterns have serious health and social consequences. The approach to the delivery of the message was unique, irreverent and unexpected. It had to be; in order to inform you must first engage, and to engage you must be interesting. To engage this young and nontraditional audience, the Jonzed campaign was presented in an online forum, one of the target audience s main sources of information and entertainment. The NSLC created an opportunity for personal reflection on past behaviour by telling a story the audience members may have experienced either personally or with friends. The communication team chose to showcase this story through a night of many mistakes as experienced by the animated main character, Eugene Jonze. Intended Audience(s) / The primary audience consisted of university students and new graduates. This audience is made up of both males and females, ages There are 35,702 undergraduate students attending eight universities and colleges in Nova Scotia. Research shows the greatest incidence of binge drinking occurs within this age group. Past experience and research show that those in this demographic are not heavy consumers of traditional media, but they do spend a considerable amount of time online, engaged in peer networks and social media channels like YouTube. Successful marketing efforts in the past have also revealed that this group doesn t respond well to being preached to with consequential approaches, but prefer to be entertained, which creates the opportunity for them to be informed. These insights factored heavily into the communication and creative strategy development of the Jonzed campaign. Goals and Objectives / The NSLC wants all customers to enjoy its products in a responsible manner, and is passionate about de-normalizing the behaviours that lead to the abuse of its products. It had become evident that the issue of binge drinking, especially among those ages 19 26, had not been addressed with an effective communication strategy. As a result, the distinction between drinking as part of a social occasion and a binge episode resulting in severe intoxication needed to be addressed and communicated _ 358

2 due to the possible dangerous health and social consequences. The primary assignment for Jonzed was to build awareness with the target audience that binge drinking is never acceptable behaviour. Specific communication goals included: 4 Inform targeted Nova Scotians of the negative effects and social stigmas associated with consuming excessive amounts of beverage alcohol. 4 Create awareness within the target audience of what constitutes binge drinking. 4 De-normalize binge drinking behaviour. 4 Encourage responsible alcohol consumption. 4 Strategically connect with the target audience through social media channels. 4 Increase awareness of NSLC s social responsibility efforts. Solution Overview / Understanding the techno-savvy year-old audience, who do not regularly consume mass media and are quick to tune out when being lectured to, the approach integrated engaging and interactive sources of online entertainment to drive visitors to the Jonzed web site and viral videos. The heart of the 2008 Jonzed campaign is a short film whose main character carries the story. Shot in live-action but starring an animated character, the short film Jonzed was created to deliver a clear social responsibility message in an engaging and unconventional manner. The campaign content mix was designed to compliment the short film, with all other pieces treated in a movie-promotion style. These included online animated teasers, movie-style trailers and free downloads of computer backgrounds and screensavers. The scope of electronic and digital communication was as follows: Short Film 4 Live action mixed with animation 4 Full version available online two weeks after the initial launch of the campaign Movie Trailers and Teaser 4 Three teasers: 15-second animated clips featured online to introduce Eugene Jonze. 4 Two cinematic trailers, 30 seconds each 4 Shown online and in movie theatres throughout Nova Scotia Online 4 Jonzed.com 4 Social Media Facebook: Join the group and invite your friends to win a Macbook or an ipod Touch. Posting the site on social media sites including DIGG, REDDIT, STUMBLE UPON and Delicious Customized YouTube Channel: Create a YouTube profile for Eugene Jonze User-generated content: Seed online conversations in all social media. Respond to comments and generate buzz. _ 359

3 The team consciously avoided traditional mass-market channels, opting instead for interactive and viral mediums. By hosting the campaign online and promoting it heavily in universities, bars and on Facebook, they optimized the number of campaign impressions within the target group. The Jonzed.com web site was built entirely in Flash and was designed to be a proper showcase for the short film. Animated navigation made it easy to find and use the sites features, from watching the videos to finding important information about the hazards of binge drinking. In order to maximize the pass-around and conversation about Jonzed, innovative custom Facebook applications were created. Attractive and trendy prizes relevant to the target audience were awarded approaching the launch of the film. Prizes were awarded based on the number of friends invited to the Facebook group. The custom Facebook application was designed to track the number of connections any one member had within the group and encourage users to invite their friends to make more. For each connection, a ballot was entered into the random drawing; prizes included Macbooks and ipod Touches. Contests that required the audience to watch the film were also conducted. Members of the Facebook group were challenged to find obscure details throughout the film for a chance to win additional prizes. A custom-designed YouTube Channel was also built to showcase the teasers, trailers and short film. This channel enabled a worldwide audience to view the film, post comments and share the content. Using these digital channels enabled NSLC to create a short film that would have an impact. The message was not traditional, nor was the delivery. Without traditional mass media, the team was not handcuffed by time constraints or rules regarding content. The message was tailored to the audience, not to a medium. Implementation and Challenges / The total budget was CDN$335,000, which covered all costs, including agency fees, production, media, printed collateral, prizes, etc. Time Line June and July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October Concept development 4Short film planning, casting and scouting 4Short film live action shooting and editing 4Web site development 4Animation 4Animation mixed with live-action 4Web site launch 4Creation of Facebook group with contests 4Launch of online teasers, trailers and in-store materials 4Completion of short film 4Launch of short film 4Trailer run in movie theatres 4Additional contests _ 360

4 This project presented many challenges. Connecting to a small and quickly evolving group of consumers, who traditionally do not respond to mass marketing efforts or consequence-based messaging, was a priority. Content needed to thrive in the interactive channels that are consumed by the target group, and it had to be edgy and entertaining enough so that people not only watched the film, but also recommended and forwarded it to their friends. Incorporating a social responsibility message into the campaign presented a complex and multilayered communication need, while offering an attractive and challenging opportunity for creativity. The team chose to go the route of a short film, mixing animation with live-action, because it is unique in the market and allowed for a more entertaining film. Animated characters allow flexibility, exaggeration and a license to push boundaries that would not be possible using real people. By using an animated character, the team enabled all viewers to relate to particular traits or behaviours that they may have in common once in a while with Jonze; however, Jonze could suffer more severe (or exaggerated) effects of binge drinking without evoking sympathy from the audience. To create a film with this blended style required that planning the shoot live, with excruciating attention to detail. The list was very precise, and cardboard cutouts were used to aid the actors with their scenes. The entire short film needed to be edited and approved by the NSLC before the animated character Jonze could be added. This required a large leap of faith by the NSLC, who at times was asked to approve the story without seeing the star of the show. It was critical to the NSLC that the final work communicated the campaign message while not discouraging responsible consumption of its products. The Jonzed campaign was designed to shed light on binge drinking behaviour rather than the consequences of drinking overall. The team believes that was achieved by showing other characters throughout the film enjoying alcohol sensibly, rendering the main character an outcast for his pattern of alcohol abuse. Measurement/Evaluation / The goal of the campaign was to engage as many of Nova Scotia s undergraduate university students as possible. The objective was to reach 25 percent of this student population. The Jonzed campaign was designed to drive traffic to the web site and to involve people in the Facebook group. The following statistics were accumulated during the two months following the launch of the web site. 4 Total unique visitors to the site: 16,262 4 Total video views (including views on Jonzed.com and YouTube): 16,282 4 Percentage of total visitors who viewed a video on the site: 63 percent 4 Total Facebook members: 8,749 4 Total blog posts containing Jonzed content: 50 4 Comments to videos and blogs: Facebook fan page views: 8,479 4 Facebook advertisement impressions: 17,954,427 _ 361

5 4 Facebook advertising clicks: 6,671 Additional Considerations 4 One thousand Jonzed USB bracelets containing the Jonzed short film were placed directly in the hands of the target audience. These views could not be measured in terms of clicks to the web site. 4 On-campus activity resulting from the distribution of the 80 toolkits sent to Cape Breton University, Dalhousie, Saint Mary s, Acadia, and St. Francis Xavier could not be measured in terms of clicks to the web site. Based on the communication channels chosen to promote the campaign, the team is confident that the majority of the 16,262 visitors were within the target group. Therefore, they are comfortable in concluding that they exceeded the objective of reaching 25 percent of the target group, especially when considering the additional impressions earned through on-campus activity (which unfortunately cannot be quantified). The team conducted an online survey during the campaign from 20 November 9 December, asking Nova Scotia residents, ages years for their assessment of the video. Of those who responded: 4 Fifty-nine percent had seen the Jonzed film. 4 Eighty-six percent acknowledged that the film did at minimum a good job conveying the idea that it s OK to drink, but you have to know your limits. 4 Eighty-six percent agreed that The film made me think about the possible consequences of my friends drinking. 4 Seventy-five percent agreed that The film made me consider drinking more responsibly in the future. 4 Thirty percent of respondents watched the film more than once, and 37 percent forwarded the film to their friends. A recognized leader in the social responsibility arena, the NSLC continues to evolve and embrace nontraditional campaigns. The additional benefits derived from this campaign include the engagement and support of employees who continue to champion NSLC campaigns at the store level by wearing campaign T-shirts, positioning posters at cash registers, and discussing the campaign with customers on an ongoing basis. This campaign represents a tremendous leap of faith for a monopoly retailer of alcoholic beverages willing to make significant investment in innovative communication strategies. _ 362