Captain Morgan has taken one of its long-time successful Halloween sponsorships, a garish parade in Key West, FL, to a national level this month, suiting up the Captain in all kinds of ghoulish gear and sending him around the country to get rum lovers to don their own trick-or-treat garb and sample his spiced rum.
The brand has expanded its six-year title sponsorship of the 28th annual Captain Morgan Fantasy Fest Parade, to be held Oct. 28, to include the entire month of October with on- and off-premise events across the country, a Web site and direct-response TV spots. Consistent creative and activation across all elements puts a new 360-degree spin on marketing for the brand in this campaign that tops $1 million in spending.
“We’re creating a scale behind a program that has proven to be successful,” says Hernando Ruiz-Jimenez, VP-marketing rums and high energy for Diageo, New York, the maker of Captain Morgan. “When you add everything together, we think we’re going to have a winner.”
On-premise, Captain Morgan and his Morganettes will expand on the brand’s now infamous “search party” to go into bars this month where they will spend about 90 minutes giving away T-shirts, blinking necklaces and glow sticks, engaging consumers in games and contests and offering samples of drinks made with Captain Morgan, the No. 3 spirits brand in the U.S.
In one game, “Have you found your first mate?” the Captain and his Morganettes will give out two sets of lanyards (one for men, one for women) each numbered one to 100, then challenge customers to search for their matching number on the opposite sex. The first 25 matches win prizes, such as T-shirts.
Halloween Costume Emergency Kits will be handed out with suggestions for ways to dress up on Oct. 31 and drive customers to CaptainYourHalloween.com. One costume suggestion says: Got a shirt? Know your alphabet? Just draw a “P” on the shirt, give yourself a fake shiner and presto! (You’re a Black Eyed Pea). Another reads, “put cauliflower in a jar labeled ‘brain donor’ and wrap your head in bandages.” Customers can have their pictures taken with the Captain and then download them for free at the Web site via a photo code handed to them during the promotion. At the site, visitors can view “blunders” and then purchase one of the five costumes featured in the DRTV spots.
“The presence of the Captain tends to really amp things up,” says Greg Leonard, a spokesperson for global rums for Diageo.
At the same time, off-premise efforts get underway at supermarkets and liquor stores with P-O-P displays and Morganettes giving away Halloween Costume Emergency Kits.
Out-of-home and TV spots by Grey Worldwide, New York began Oct. 1 on cable (late night). Events are handled by U.S. Concepts, New York. The DRTV spots show five costumes and drive viewers to CaptainYourHalloween.com where they can purchase the costumes and get some last minute tips from the Captain.
“We’re looking at owning the whole month of October,” Leonard says. “We want people to be thinking of the Captain this month.”
In Key West, Captain Morgan activates its sponsorship of the parade during five of the 10 days the festival runs with a booth on the street where passersby can get Henna tattoos. The day of the parade, the Captain Morgan float — with the Captain and his Morganettes aboard — leads the cavalcade of more than 80 floats and bands down Duval Street. The brand is also reprising its popular Captain Morgan Safe Ride program, where it underwrites the cost of public transportation (buses) from 6 pm to 4 am the night of the parade, offering free rides for all in and around Key West and its outer communities. Last year, about 3,000 riders took advantage of the program.
“Halloween in and of itself has taken on an aura of its own,” Leonard says. “People look forward to breaking out of their convention and getting dressed up.”
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