Jack Daniel’s creates some ‘buzz’

Brown-Forman Canada is doing everything it can this month to create some “buzz” around Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey and encourage more millennials to give the brand a taste.

Throughout the month of November, Jack Daniel’s and agency partner The Hive have been holding “This One’s For The Bees” tasting events in bars across Canada for its Tennessee Honey brand, which features its trademark whiskey infused with a custom honey liqueur. Tasters place a bee sticker on a large board designed in the style of beehive. For every sample given, the company has been making a donation to The Honey Council of Canada to help save Canada’s bee population. The tastings are being promoted through the Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey Facebook page and the company is encouraging attendees to upload and tag their own photos from the events.

Bees are an important part of the Canadian ecosystem, as they pollinate many plants and crops. The problem, mainly attributed to pesticides, was exacerbated by a particularly harsh winter last year, during which the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists estimated that 58% of colonies in Ontario alone didn’t survive.

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey was launched in Canada three years ago, which Daniel Navarro, national marketing manager for Jack Daniel’s at Brown-Forman Canada says makes it a relatively young brand here. The company has increased the budget behind promoting the brand this quarter, with the “This One’s for the Bees” campaign being among the largest it has done over the last two years.

“It’s just one of those brands that we need to give it a bit of an extra nudge [for consumers] to actually taste it,” says Skye Brain, group account director at The Hive. “For other brands, trial is a big part of discovery, but especially with Tennessee Honey, because we have the Jack brand associated with it and because it is a new flavour.”

Navarro adds that the Jack Daniel’s trademark is an iconic one that consumers are attracted to, and the taste profile of Tennessee Honey is one that will appeal to an evenly male/female-skewed, 19- to 29-year-old audience, compared to the male-skewed, older audience for Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey.

“We know from our research that this generation are looking to engage with brands that go beyond typical marketing activities and help them to contribute to the greater good,” Navarro says.

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