It’s an interesting approach Bacardi has taken with this social media campaign: True Originals. It has been in operation for the past year or so, using only social media heavyweights Facebook and YouTube. It is slowly building a following of spirits enthusiasts.
#1: The Samurai
Traces of the existing Bacardi brand barely exist in this campaign, with the exception of:
- Long shots of the green glass Bacardi bottle
- Close-ups of the neck of the Bacardi bottle
- The shape and colour of the chip at the end of each video
True Originals is a clear example of how social media, specifically Facebook and YouTube, can be used to target specific audiences. In this case, Bacardi seem to be targeting the bartenders and cocktail connoisseurs (read: influencers) from around the world.
#2 The Hummingbird
These high-quality videos seem to be more about branding rum as THE spirit appreciated the world over, and consequently, subtly re-positions Bacardi as a classy spirit. The clever part here is that while creating this alternate identity for Bacardi, the current overall perception of Bacardi as mass-market rum has remained intact. It is also interesting to note that there is no reference to this campaign on Bacardi’s official website.
#3 The Apothecary
Only four videos have been released on the True Originals YouTube channel so far: The Samurai, The Hummingbird, The Apothecary and The Outsider. The Samurai is still the most popular video, drawing the most views as of Thursday, 9th September 2010.
| True Originals Video | No. Views | Uploaded… |
| The Samurai | 34,598 | 11 months ago |
| The Hummingbird | 22,835 | 7 months ago |
| The Apothecary | 19,358 | 3 months ago |
| The Outsider | 33,381 | 1 month ago |
The True Originals Facebook page has 1,873 “Likes” (accurate Thu 09/09/10). Although this number is small for such a lengthy campaign, the level of engagement appears very high. Majority of the posts on the wall are from bartenders or cocktail connoisseurs, either commenting on the videos or asking questions for the “True Originals”.
#4 The Outsider
There are very few posts from the page itself, which usually serve to:
- promote the new videos upon release
- provoke discussion about certain aspects of each video (e.g. bartender flair seen in The Outsider)
- announce milestones for Bacardi (e.g. 110th birthday of the Bacardi Cuba Librée)
- and ultimately, build a community of “True Originals”
Interestingly, the vanity URL, http://www.trueoriginals.com/ is directed to the Static FBML tab on the True Originals Facebook Page, which confirms Bacardi’s commitment to this community. It also adds further fuel to the ongoing debate about the relevance of websites.
It will be interesting to see how this campaign plays out… do you think it will (or at least has the potential) to reach the dizzying heights of Old Spice? Or would that perhaps defeat its true purpose: only reaching the influencers?
Nice campaign – I hadn’t heard of it before. The small number of highly engaged followers is further fuel for the quality vs quantity debate. I’m curious what impact the campaign has had on the bottom line and if has actually translated into sales for Bacardi, which is after all the ultimate measure.
As for the relevance of websites, it’s the old paid, earned, owned media thing. Putting all your eggs in someone else’s basket is a huge risk since you never truly ‘own’ your FB page. While it’s important to have a presence there, you need your own website or digital hub to drive traffic to so you can maximize engagement and centralise all your various social media properties.
So am I Mal, I’d love to know how this has impacted their B2B (Bacardi -> Bar) sales… have they successfully established a new base of customers? Are existing customers buying more Bacardi?
Also, you’ve got a good point on ‘ownership’… perhaps Bacardi spent the $$$ on high production value for YouTube video, instead of investing in an actual micro-site, that aggregates all their Facebook content.