Solution
By staying focused on the consumer insight, Early Times was able to engage with consumers by offering an opportunity to share something they love most – their dogs – while simultaneously delivering the “All-American” positioning of the brand.
PriceWeber was able to connect the dots between American heritage and our consumers’ love of dogs. First, PriceWeber evolved the K9s For Warriors partnership by working with the brand to adopt a “distillery dog” from the Kentucky Humane Society. Earl, the Kentucky rescue, was sent to K9s For Warriors to be trained as a military service dog for a post-9/11 veteran. Not only did Earl bring goodwill to the brand, he enriched an already powerful partnership with a valuable charity partner.
The program also included a contest that was inspired by our core insight. The All-American Dogs contest invited the Early Times consumer to share a story and photo of their “All-American Dog.” The winners of the contest received a whisky barrel doghouse and a feature in a 2020 All-American Dogs wall calendar along with a billboard in their hometown featuring their dog.
In addition to the 10 consumers who were selected in the contest, Early Times developed a text-to-win “Distributor Dog” contest for their distributor partners to enter their dogs for a chance to win a feature in the All-American Dogs wall calendar and hometown billboard advertising. This was an opportunity for Early Times to involve their partners who are integral to their business.
PriceWeber utilized award-winning photographer Dan Dry to travel the country to photograph each All-American dog to be featured on billboards, social media, Early Times website as well as the 2020 wall calendar.
Once the social contest had concluded, PriceWeber developed a Facebook and Instagram social campaign which featured each of the winning dogs and developed a targeted media plan with social ads in each key market to boost the featured content.
The strategy behind the billboards and the wall calendar was to gain awareness though Public Relations. In the past, Early Times has had difficulty getting national media coverage with their limited budget. PriceWeber suggested a more targeted plan that could make an impact in markets that mattered most. Early Times needed a hometown angle to garner localized coverage but on a national basis
Early Times also dedicated their website to All-American Dogs, which all media and PR was directed to. The 2020 All-American Dogs wall calendar was available for consumers to download from the website. Early Times also utilized their CRM database to drive traffic to the dedicated promotional webpage.