Hoping to Attract Millennial Men, Mike's Hard Lemonade Rebrands With a Bright New Campaign

Mike's Hard Lemonade has a problem reaching millennial male consumers. The main issue is that, as it turns out, most younger millennial men have no idea what Mike's Hard Lemonade is. In a move to capture the attention of men ages 25 to 29, the brand teamed up with The Annex (out of Havas in Chicago) to deliver a happy and bright new campaign, "Drink on the Bright Side." The campaign includes a mix of out-of-home, social, digital, TV and print work. The idea for the campaign came from the client's insight that anyone who drinks a Mike's Hard Lemonade probably isn't sad, but rather very happy. "The core belief for us as a brand is Mike's is about your favorite happy times. The reality is that sad people don’t drink Mike's, so for us we wanted to make our creative campaign reflect that moment of happiness in what increasingly feels like a negative world," Sanjiv Gajiwala, vp of marketing for Mike's, said. The Annex (essentially a subsection of Havas created by millennials for millennials) worked on the campaign. The Chicago agency had its millennial division work on the campaign to ensure the work "has an authenticity of what is cool and what is relevant," Jason Peterson, chairman and CCO of Havas Creative, U.S., said. For much of the TV and digital content, the agency wanted to create work that tapped into this "Tim and Eric and kind of Tumblr, meme phenomenon," Peterson added. There area few short spots including "Rocket Shoes," and "Arcade" that tap into that culture nicely. They're a little absurd and outlandish but still funny and charming–especially "Arcade," which features an adorable little puppy that turns into a laser shooting machine. With print and out of home work, the agency decided to go in a different direction and keep things very straightforward. Copy is very simple with lines like, "What laughter tastes like" and, "Sad people don't drink Mike's." Added Gajiwala: "For us the insight was this group of consumers, these 25-30 years olds, they have their own language which is not always a spoken language or a linear language, they don’t have a lot of time and they want to communicate quickly and for us that meant shifting our creative approach to reflect that and reflect what we think Mike's Hard Lemonade is and what it’s role is in their mindset." [kickout id="1"] [kickout id="2"] [kickout id="3"] CREDITS Chief Creative Officer, N.A: Jason Peterson Executive Creative Director: Paul Hirsch Group Creative Director: Pat Hanna Senior Copywriter: Bob Howe Senior Art Director: Andrew Caturano Co-Head of Production, N.A: Dave Evans Senior Integrated Producers: Catherine Hudon and Austen Williams Photographer: Mikey McLenighan Director of Business Affairs: Bonnie Hamilton Group Account Director: Chrissy Bouyea Account Director: Kevin Diedrich Senior Project Manager: Kevin Zimmerman Production Company: Gifted Youth Director: Fatal Farm /Jeffrey Max Executive Producer: Anthony Ficalora and Dal Wolf Line Producer: Cary Gillespie Post Production: Editorial Company: The Mill Editor, Company: Charlotte Carr, The Mill Executive Producer, VFX & Design, Company: Andrew Sommerville, The Mill Producer, Editorial, Company: Mike Pullan, The Mill Shoot Supervisor, Company: Theo Maniatis, The Mill 2D Lead Artist, Company: Andrew Pellicer, The Mill 2D Artist, Company: Dan Frantz, The Mill 3D Artists, Company: Adam Carroll, Jordan Carroll, Ross Scroble, The Mill Art Director, Company: Matt Darnall, The Mill Head of Design, Company: Jeff Boddy, The Mill Designers: Adrian Navarro, Josh Van Praag Executive Producer, Color: Laurie Adrianopoli, The Mill Producer, Color: Dan Butler, The Mill Colorist: Luke Morrison, The Mill Color Assistants: Mikey Pehanich, Lindsey Mazur Music Composer Company: duotone audio group & Chicago Recording Studio Executive Producer: Ross Hopman Producer: Gio Lobato Creative Director: Jack Livesey Sr. Audio Engineer: Ian Scott