Case study
Jameson launches full-funnel campaign, bringing customers on a journey from content to commerce
Founded in 1780, Pernod Ricard-owned Jameson is the best-selling Irish whisky in the world.1 Throughout their long history, the brand has continued to expand their acclaimed range to offer new taste experiences, and in 2011, introduced Jameson Black Barrel, a triple-distilled blend of small-batch grain and single-pot still Irish whisky. As a product that is purposefully smooth while containing complex and elevated flavors, Jameson Black Barrel is a communal experience that fosters kinship, making it the perfect choice for gifting to loved ones for Christmas and the festive season.
Reaching customers during the festive season
In December 2022, Jameson set out to drive awareness around Black Barrel’s product credentials during this key selling period and, ultimately, convert to sales. But with the economic downturn casting a shadow over the holiday season, the average British adult planned to spend 22% less on Christmas gifts than the previous year.2 Despite this backdrop, consumers were still seeking a taste of celebration, and the drinks sector remained buoyant, with around 60% of shoppers looking to gift alcohol.3 For the Jameson team, achieving cut-through was crucial to able to attract the attention of whisky shoppers at the end of the year, and so they collaborated with media agency MG OMD and Amazon Ads to find the solution.
Developing a full-funnel strategy, from streaming to shopping
Jameson wanted to reach potential customers including those swapping over from scotch and bourbon into Black Barrel, as well as those trading up from Jameson Original, their entry-level whisky. Amazon Ads begun by using Jameson’s own personas to effectively understand these audiences through Amazon’s own shopping and streaming insights. For example, Jameson’s “cultural travellers” audience closely aligned with customers who were in the market for travel books in the Amazon store. This strategy was further enhanced through the use of affinity audiences.
To engage these audiences, Jameson used Amazon Ads solutions to develop a full-funnel strategy that used each channel’s role in the customer journey. To establish an emotional connection, Jameson reached these audiences through their passion points on Amazon Freevee and the Autumn Nations Series rugby on Prime Video, using quality, big-screen Streaming TV environments to ensure that the brand’s premium cues highlighted in the videos were fully viewable and enjoyed at scale.
To further extend reach, Jameson also used Amazon DSP with video and display ads to engage audiences on Amazon and selected third-party publishers, and drive to the product display page on Amazon.co.uk to find out more. Finally, to move the brand from consideration to conversion, customers who had browsed but not yet purchased Jameson Black Barrel were remarketed with lower-funnel creative using Amazon DSP. Jameson Black Barrel ads also appeared on paid social, to a selected audience split into two segments: those who they want to consume the product, as well as those who would potentially gift the product to a loved one.
Driving sales, delivering results
Working together enabled Jameson to deliver their first full-funnel activation with Amazon Ads, and the multichannel strategy delivered a big impact, both on and off Amazon. To effectively measure the results of the campaign, Amazon Ads implemented an omnichannel measurement strategy, including an offline sales study with Circana Lift. Overall, the Streaming TV ads delivered a 98% completion rate, exceeding the Amazon Ads internal benchmark. The campaign also drove a strong return on investment across offline and online sales, with a 31% uplift vs. Circana benchmarks, while offline sales specifically saw an 81% uplift vs. Circana benchmarks.4
“Jameson Black Barrel is a huge strategic priority for us, particularly as we’re continuing to see consumers trading up within the Imported Whisky category,” said Josh McCarthy, brand director at Pernod Richard UK. “We wanted to challenge ourselves to deliver both consumer and commercial goals over a period where we sell a huge proportion of total Black Barrel volume. Trialing this with Amazon Ads and MG OMD was excellent, we’ll definitely look to replicate this moving forward.”