Ingenious Ideas for Online Promotion – Gold

Grant ’s Scotch, William Grant & Sons India Pvt Ltd

Grant’s Whisky, a globally established premium Scotch, was an unknown entity for the young Indian drinkers. To promote it among the young drinkers, William Grant & Sons India devised a novel social recruitment campaign, “Activating friendships for success”. This digital campaign offered the promise of an awesome job experience, but with a catch – one couldn’t apply for it unless friends stepped in to vouch for one. A candidate would need recommendations from three friends to be eligible for the awesome job.

An application was hosted on Facebook to invite nominations and recommendations for the “Activating friendships for success” social recruitment. A digital film was also run on YouTube and Facebook. Job portals like Linkedin and Monster.com were also used for recruitment messaging.

By the end of the nominations window, 1322 nominations were received for the job, which was an excellent response, considering the fact that similar branding and marketing roles for the same experience profile draw an average of 50 applications.

Top 15   shortlisted teams   (candidate +   3   friends) were invited for the final attended by leading influencers in the food & beverages community. They interviewed the candidates and their friends were made to pitch their case and showcase their know-how about the Scotch category.

As part of the Grant’s promotion, the Brand Ambassador’s office chair was created. One-of-a-kind talking chair, it was programmed (with speech recognition, captive sensors & microcontrollers) to automatically field all  questions  by the press and surprise unsuspecting crowds at high-footfall venues including Cyber Hub in Gurgaon, where the chair was accompanied by Outdoors and brand visibility in bars in the same location.

In the Indian whisky market, giant brands spend massively in ATL and BTL communication. As compared to them, William Grant spent a shoestring budget to create the right noise for Grant’s Scotch and get it noticed. The high level of reach, engagement and participation clearly indicates Grant’s success in building relation with the consumers.

As 100% organic growth the brand’s Facebook page garnered 40,000+ likes in a month. The brand’s volume grew by 150% and width of distribution increased by a massive 400% within only Delhi-NCR.

An independent brand health study commissioned during the campaign found that brand awareness levels rose to over 11% from almost nothing in key urban markets.

Clearly this brought Grant’s into a stature of recognition amongst  a  segment  populated  by massively  strong players.