| Title | BUDDY CHECK |
| Brand | THE ABSOLUT COMPANY |
| Product/Service | RESPONSIBLE DRINKING |
| Category |
A02. CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY |
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PR Agency
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JMW KOMMUNIKATION Stockholm, SWEDEN
|
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Production Company
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FROST DIGITAL Stockholm, SWEDEN
|
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Entrant Company
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JMW KOMMUNIKATION Stockholm, SWEDEN
|
Credits
| Joakim Karlsson |
JMW |
Executive Creative Director |
| Samuel Garlöv |
JMW |
Creative Director |
| Nina Starco |
JMW |
Account Director |
| Björn Mellstrand |
JMW |
Account Executive |
| Anders Pålsson |
JMW |
Art Director |
| Jonas Böttiger |
JMW |
Art Director |
| Henrik Löwenhamn |
JMW |
Digital Strategy |
| Lina Jenkens |
Frost Digital |
Production Manager |
| Joel Söderström |
Frost Digital |
Founder |
| Elin Wibell |
The Absolut Company |
Senior Manager Corporate Communications |
The Campaign
Help The Absolut Company to address responsible drinking in relation to group pressure in channels relevant to a younger audience.
We created Buddy Check an app that helps you keep track of friends when going out. It rewards those who take care of each other, turning the force of group pressure into something positive.
Estimated reach of 4,9 million in media outlets that usually don't cover this type of CSR-related news stories.
The Brief
Reach a younger audience with messages about responsible drinking in relation to group pressure in media channels that they themselves use.
Results
Buddy Check solved an actual problem by helping friends to stick together when going out. The app solution also made way for our key messages about responsible drinking in new media channels relevant to our younger target audience that otherwise would not cover CSR-related news.
Estimated reach of 4,9 million. Publicity in radio,blogs and leading lifestyle and tech sites like PSFK TrendHunter and Plaza. Buddy Check was praised by former Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki with 1,2 million followers on Twitter.
News coverage in Sweden, US, UK, France, Germany, Thailand and Russia. Buddy Check was also awarded an Adweek Project Isaac Award for innovation in Best Practice PR.
Execution
We created Buddy Check, an app that helps friends keep track of each other when going out. A GPS function combined with tasks to complete, under time pressure, in order to reach a high-score makes it more fun to stick together throughout the night. The app will also give advice on how to make it the best night out, like having a glass of water now and then. If someone wanders off too far from the rest of the group everyone will receive a warning text to make sure that person is ok. We called this “gamified responsibility”.
Buddy Check was launched by talking to night life influencers, life style magazines and bloggers. An instructional video was used for social media channels in order to demonstrate the functions with Buddy Check and at the same time communicate messages on responsible drinking.
The Situation
As one of the largest producers of alcoholic Beverages in the world, the Absolut Company has an extra responsibility towards society. This is why The Absolut Company have a long tradition of leadership in promoting responsible drinking. In 2013/2014 focus was on addressing group pressure in relation to overconsumption within younger audiences.
The Strategy
We decided to move away from being authoritarian and instead create something that was useful and positively charged.
So we turned to the world of scuba diving. Because before plunging into the water divers conduct a buddy check to make sure all equipment is ok. During the dive, buddies also stay within a limited safety distance in order to be able to help one another if something goes wrong. A positive behavior that we wanted to encourage on dry land.