Make Bacardi Carta Blanca’s brand promise a reality with a unique Radio ideaDrive ‘Bacardi VIP’ Radio promotion awarenessDemonstrate sales effect success Brand promise delivery. We moved consumers from ‘being aware’ of the brand claim that Bacardi Carta Blanca is the party spirit to ‘believing’ it. Young audiences understand advertising and expect brands to deliver their promises. We built relationships with consumers for the brand - not just its advertising - by entering their lives in relevant places, making their nights out better and making them want to choose Bacardi Rum.

Modern consumers dislike being shouted at. We got into the lives of party people and made great nights happen..

Awareness. Our VIPs met Madonna and Guy, Kylie, Dido and more – and two of them now have permanent jobs as Radio presenters. Its no surprise then that results were fantastic. Awareness of ‘Bacardi VIP’ Radio was a huge 29%. We created 10,000+ audition applications on the Bacardi web site. There were 200 Bacardi VIP Radio auditions on air and 20 ‘Bacardi VIPs’ broadcasted live on the radio accross the country.Sales. Above all we hoped to see a positive sales effect. This unique Radio programme has coincided with Bacardi Carta Blanca’s first year on year sales growth for ten years. An amazing result. Partnering Radio stations all over the country ‘Be a Bacardi VIP’ on air competition, web site application, on air auditions, Radio listener voting‘Bacardi VIP’ Radio winners; become Radio entertainment and celebrity reporter with own showReporting and interviewing celebrities and great nights outProving that Bacardi Carta Blanca makes ‘a great night out with friends’Our challenge in all communication planning was to make the Bacardi Carta Blanca brand stand for ‘a great night out with friends’. We needed to find a media idea delivering this promise and to prove it to young people by actually making their nights out better. We did this with a unique Radio idea that leveraged Radio’s relationship with these consumers and helped Bacardi Rum really become ‘the party spirit of choice’.‘Great nights out with friends’ involve the hottest bars and clubs and the latest celebrity hangouts; following famous people, gate crashing private parties, sneaking onto guest lists and going to the best DJ nights in town. Everyone wants to be out on the town, big in the news and living the limousine lifestyle. Young party people follow this dream.Finding Radio partners to team up with Bacardi Carta Blanca, we offered the chance to live this life by becoming a Bacardi VIP. Using the coolest Radio partners across the country we ran on air competitions for listeners to apply. Hopeful consumers entered on the Bacardi website and from 10,000+ applicants each station chose a shortlist of 10.

Each station’s lucky 10 people auditioned on air and listeners voted for who was best. Each winner became a ‘Bacardi VIP’ and the prize was to become the celebrity and entertainment reporter on the Radio with their own show, every week. They went to hot celebrity parties, new bar openings, top club nights, DJ sessions, Bacardi B Bars and Vivid party nights where they interviewed all the stars. Each week on the radio they presented their show and told of their fantastic nights out, playing celebrity interviews and telling of the best nights ahead.Bacardi VIPs gave prizes and giveaways to best dressed people in clubs and bars, so making it a great night out wherever they went. Bacardi Rum and our Radio partners guided people to the hottest nights out keeping them up to date with happening places, Bacardi B Bars and ‘Vivid’ party nights so ensuring that they all had great nights out with friends wherever they went.For the lucky winners who became Bacardi VIPs, we changed their lives and had them broadcast on the Radio every week as brand champions proving to people that ‘Bacardi Carta Blanca is the party spirit and makes a great night out with friends’. 100% contribution, 100% insight, 100% successThis unique use of Radio was completely a Media idea. It was then developed and executed with our Radio station partners and Client. Brand insight. In this market, brands must deliver their promises, not just make them. We sought a media idea that would actually deliver to consumers in real life the advertising promise – ‘Bacardi Carta Blanca makes a great night out with friends’.Consumer insight. Great nights out with friends are central to our consumers’ lifestyles. Mirroring celebrity role models’ activities - the best clubs and parties, meeting celebrities and DJs, and making sure everyone knows about it.

Media insight. Radio is the social medium at the heart of this party lifestyle bringing your favourite DJs and tunes, telling what’s hot and what’s not, talking of celebrity hangouts and gossip. However, this only happened irregularly.

Radio idea – Become ‘The Bacardi VIP’. We developed a programming idea to focus entertainment information into party times of the week. BUT, with Bacardi Carta Blanca – the party spirit – offering you the chance to become the celebrity reporter for your favourite Radio station. Win a radio competition to become The Bacardi VIP and report back from parties with celebrity interviews live on your own radio show, every week.

This submission is special because our unique ‘Become The Bacardi VIP’ Radio promotion actually delivered, to consumers in their real lives, the brand’s TV and Cinema advertising promise, building a bridge between consumers and the brand.It integrated our advertising and experiential marketing. It drove audience interest by making consumers the stars.

This is a great idea in its context because, with Radio, we changed consumer belief for the Bacardi Carta Blanca brand in a way that advertising alone could not achieve. Advertising ‘made the promise’ for Bacardi Rum ‘being at the heart of a great night out with friends’ but we moved consumers from ‘being aware’ of that ‘claim’ to ‘believing’ - from their own experiences - that Bacardi Carta Blanca ‘really is’ at the heart of a great night out with friends.This should be a winner because success overcame three enormous challenges: long term sales loss, declining consumer relevance and the incredible rise of Vodka particularly Smirnoff. Bacardi Carta Blanca had lost favour with young fun party people and saw sales decline for each of the last 10 years.Our powerful Radio idea actually delivered the brand promise making a real difference to our consumers’ lives. In doing so we helped reverse a decade of sales decline with Bacardi Carta Blanca achieving its best sales result in 10 years.

100% contribution, 100% insight, 100% successThis unique use of Radio was completely a Media idea. It was then developed and executed with our Radio station partners and Client. Brand insight. In this market, brands must deliver their promises, not just make them. We sought a media idea that would actually deliver to consumers in real life the advertising promise – ‘Bacardi Carta Blanca makes a great night out with friends’.Consumer insight. Great nights out with friends are central to our consumers’ lifestyles. Mirroring celebrity role models’ activities - the best clubs and parties, meeting celebrities and DJs, and making sure everyone knows about it.

Media insight. Radio is the social medium at the heart of this party lifestyle bringing your favourite DJs and tunes, telling what’s hot and what’s not, talking of celebrity hangouts and gossip. However, this only happened irregularly.

Radio idea – Become ‘The Bacardi VIP’. We developed a programming idea to focus entertainment information into party times of the week. BUT, with Bacardi Carta Blanca – the party spirit – offering you the chance to become the celebrity reporter for your favourite Radio station. Win a radio competition to become The Bacardi VIP and report back from parties with celebrity interviews live on your own radio show, every week.