Bacardi details weather-powered programmatic plan to revive Martini’s ‘swagger’
Bacardi-owned Martini is entering the programmatic space with a mix of weather and contextual data to try and win the first drink of the evening with friends occasion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOP-cas_7l8
The alcohol maker is betting on data-driven ad buying to “stand out’ in a spirits category chasing the same millenials. Provenance is “not enough” to cut through the crowd, admits Martini, which is why it is looking to programmatic to make its online ads more contextually relevant.
The brand is layering programmatic buys using a variety of pre-bid weather data with other types of targeting to align ad creative to audiences likely to be gathering for an evening drink or heading out for a meal for example. Using the weather to steer purchases is a relatively new technique for programmatic advertisers and Martini hopes it will yield a granular form of location-based targeting.
Negative targeting is being used to define audience segments that must not be exposed to the campaign. For instance, advertising using the technique is regularly restricted to people that are currently in training for a sporting event or heavily associate themselves with one particular drink or are at different life stages.
The approach, developed in partnership with Zenith Optimedia, contrasts with the brand’s previous efforts in which attitudinal insights were translated into a paid media plan. Channels were activated in isolation through the plan whereas Martini claims its revamped ad buying paves the way for cross-platform activations.
Programmatic is still new to the drinks brand and it is currently scaling it out to its local markets.
Most advertisers are reluctant to talk about a programmatic in a bid to protect both sensitive agency relationships and their competitive advantage in a discipline many are yet to fully understand.
Alex Van Gestel, global communications director at Bacardi, says: “We’re trying to establish the brand on a more contextually relevant canvas in order to push on. We obviously do what we need to do in terms of paid digital around the usual [online ad] formats but increasingly they’re quite invasive with consumers. Our preference is obviously to pull rather than push and to have content that people seek out.”
Martini’s programmatic push forms part of its wider “Begin Desire” campaign to win over younger drinkers. By combining its 150-history with contemporary culture, the brand hopes to appeal to consumers “with a different value set to the traditional Martini drinker”.
New packaging for Martini bottle launches next year as part of the plan, while a branded film is being pushed online (see above).
Want to know more about programmatic? Attend Marketing Week and Econsultancy’s “Get with the Programmtic” event in association with AppNexus on 4 December. Go to marketing week.co.uk/programmatic for more details.
