Corona Get Real – 1,000,000 Lime Giveaway

Pro AwardsBest Use of a Promotion Campaign Executed Outside the U.S.

Agency: Match Marketing Group
Campaign: Corona Get Real – 1,000,000 Lime Giveaway
Client: Corona Canada

Corona, a leading import in Canada, wanted to kept the brand top of mind prior to the spring and summer months amid the introduction of new competitors. With a focus on key brand platforms of ‘original’, ‘real’ and ‘authentic’, the ‘1 million Lime Giveaway’ was created.

A ‘story’ was developed about Corona cornering the market on limes in the midst of a global lime shortage. A press release announced the million lime giveaway and said that hordes of Corona lime handlers were taking to the streets of Canadian cities to bring the green fruit to beer drinkers desperately seeking real limes after a long, bitter winter and a severe global lime shortage.

Each bag of limes had a unique PIN for a chance to win one of 10 vacation giveaways at CoronaGetReal.com. Those without a bag of limes could request a PIN online.

A continuous odometer indicated the total number of limes given away and when the 1 millionth lime was given, a celebration was held, including an instant trip for the recipient. Website visitors could also lime handlers’ schedules.

From February 28 to April 3, more than 90 lime handlers were recruited, trained and deployed in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.

TV commercials, Facebook ads, other social media and Google Ad Words drove traffic to the site, while VIP concerts spread the buzz and secured on-air mentions and media interviews.

A video, called ‘Limeface’, was uploaded to YouTube a week prior to the campaign as a teaser. In the ‘Limeface Gallery’, visitors could upload their own funny limeface and could “like” others’ photos.

Four unique recipes were created for the website which either featured Corona within the recipe or was complimentary to the brand. Fifteen Scion xBs were wrapped with custom branding and used by the lime handlers. Back drops, pop-up banners, coolers on wheels and courier bags facilitated lime distribution.

According to Digitalhug, a total of 106,403 Corona mentions were recorded, with 91% of sentiment being extremely positive. Toronto had the most dialogue, with 42%.

Overall, Corona distributed more than 1 million limes, generated 1.5 million experiential impressions, distributed more than 28,000 samples and drove sales of more than 7,000 Corona 12-packs during the four-week program.

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