Georgian Bay Spirit Co., a proudly Canadian company with “a little bit of Georgian Bay in everything we do,” wanted to recreate the success of its cult-favourite Gin Smash with the launch of several other canned cocktail products, including Tequila Smash and Half Smash.

The goal? To reach consumers of canned cocktails to increase market share, emphasize the company’s Canadian roots and align the product with the unprecedented hype around a vaccinated summer. The execution? This year, Patron Studio came up with the idea to integrate the products into Chatelaine’s Summer Fun Guide, part of the brand’s annual made-in-Canada issue.

The team’s execution of innovative visuals for the new canned cocktails earned them the Silver Award for Best in Content Publishing at the Media Innovation Awards.

What made the campaign stand out? Since lockdown prevented photographing models or shoots on location, the team knew they’d have to be extra creative with their approach. They constructed summer scenes out of paper and used the cans themselves as the shiny, photogenic characters. They placed them in a number of fun scenarios like relaxing on a Muskoka chair, enjoying the sun. The paper construction art concept carried throughout, alongside engaging, relevant editorial content. The content was also reproduced online with social media and newsletter media drivers.

“We didn’t want another print buy,” said John Robinson, Head of Marketing and Innovation for Georgian Bay Spirit Co. “We wanted something that would bring our brand lifestyle to life, and the Chatelaine Summer Fun Guide delivered on that. We don’t subscribe to traditional success metrics, but we heard from multiple consumers and industry colleagues that they loved the way it brought our Half Smash and Tequila Smash to life.”

SJC Media’s Patron Studio and the Chatelaine team fulfilled Georgian Bay Spirit Co.’s goal of launching the products in an authentic, relatable way. The stats point to its success: Among those who saw both the print and digital elements of the campaign, there was a 59% lift in brand awareness, 91% lift in brand consideration and 151% lift in purchase intent. 

To read the full Media Innovation Award profile, click here.