Four is not a crowd in Jim Beam’s prize pool.

The brand this month wraps up a sweeps awarding a grand-prize trip for four friends and readies another to break next month.

The tack helps Jim Beam Brands’ court men 21 to 26, its target audience since a 1999 repositioning. It also continues Beam’s strategy of unique trips as grand prizes: Last summer, the brand brought 100 winners and friends to its Louisville, KY, distillery for a Rock the Rackhouse private concert (December 2000 PROMO).

“The only real way to get word of mouth is to be intimately involved with consumers, and you can only do that on a local level,” says vp-global brand management Tom Maas. “Anyone can send someone to the Bahamas. We want to create an aura around the brand that’s relevant, [so we ask], ‘What do guys want to do on a free weekend?’”

Real Deal breaks August 1, with on- and off-premise and online entry. Grand prize is a trip for four to Las Vegas via private jet with Playboy Playmates on board, a weekend suite (think Hard Rock Hotel), and $20,000 spending cash. Communicator Worldwide, Chicago, handles.

“It’s the ultimate guy trip,” says manager of promotional marketing Chris Hess. “The brand team is all in its early 30s. It’s not too hard to sit in a brainstorming session and say, ‘What do we want to do?’”

Seventy percent of Beam consumers are men. Future promos may widen the appeal to women, but for now, the action is set for guys.

The effort follows a second-quarter sweeps, Throw Down the Rock, that this month sends one winner and three friends to New York City to play basketball against the band members of Papa Roach, then hang at Madison Square Garden with NBA Hall of Famer Walt Frazier. “It’s got a rock-and-jock feel to it,” Hess says. Fans enter the random-draw sweeps on-premise or off, or via jimbeam.com. (About one third of entries come online, Hess says.)

Beam had to find a private venue in Manhattan since liquor brands are restricted from public events — and the brand didn’t want to spur ill will from families. Winners play at Chelsea Pier with the Empire State Building as their backdrop — and signage facing in towards the fenced-in court. Beam chose Papa Roach because “they’re first-year rookies, multi-platinum with edgy music, but all family guys and strong with promotional tie-ins,” Hess says. GMR Marketing, New Berlin, WI, helps Beam pick bands as part of the shop’s work on Jim Beam Backroom, an ongoing music program that gives grants and studio time to emerging bands and helps key Beam accounts find new talent for shows.

A summer-long on-premise effort, Friends in a Flash, wraps up this month. Bars in 28 markets (tapering to 12 by summer’s end) host brand teams taking group photos framed in a template of Beam’s “Real Friends” print ads for the subjects to take home. Bar patrons get a card with a PIN so they can see their photos at jimbeam.com, and enter them into a contest for a chance to appear in a real Beam ad (including a trip to L.A. for the photo shoot). “This is the first year we’ve tied in our [ad] creative look to promotions,” Hess says. Young & Rubicam, Chicago, handles ads.

“On-premise events are more interesting now because that’s where young adults have their first drinking experience,” says Maas. Because alcohol is an acquired taste, “if you can get the consumer to try your product right when they enter legal drinking age, you can get them for a long time.” That’s why Beam invests heavily in on-premise: “You don’t get a return on that investment, but if you can convert the consumer, it’s worth it,” Maas explains.

Jim Beam holds a 60-percent share of the bourbon category and a three-percent share of the total distilled spirits business, which hit 165 million cases in 2000. Distilled spirits volume has grown an average of three percent since 1997, when the Echo Boom started coming of age. Bourbon came back in vogue alongside cigars and steakhouses, skewing younger than in past decades.

Four is not a crowd in Jim Beam’s prize pool.

The brand this month wraps up a sweeps awarding a grand-prize trip for four friends and readies another to break next month.

The tack helps Jim Beam Brands’ court men 21 to 26, its target audience since a 1999 repositioning. It also continues Beam’s strategy of unique trips as grand prizes: Last summer, the brand brought 100 winners and friends to its Louisville, KY, distillery for a Rock the Rackhouse private concert (December 2000 PROMO).

“The only real way to get word of mouth is to be intimately involved with consumers, and you can only do that on a local level,” says vp-global brand management Tom Maas. “Anyone can send someone to the Bahamas. We want to create an aura around the brand that’s relevant, [so we ask], ‘What do guys want to do on a free weekend?’”

Real Deal breaks August 1, with on- and off-premise and online entry. Grand prize is a trip for four to Las Vegas via private jet with Playboy Playmates on board, a weekend suite (think Hard Rock Hotel), and $20,000 spending cash. Communicator Worldwide, Chicago, handles.

“It’s the ultimate guy trip,” says manager of promotional marketing Chris Hess. “The brand team is all in its early 30s. It’s not too hard to sit in a brainstorming session and say, ‘What do we want to do?’”

Seventy percent of Beam consumers are men. Future promos may widen the appeal to women, but for now, the action is set for guys.

The effort follows a second-quarter sweeps, Throw Down the Rock, that this month sends one winner and three friends to New York City to play basketball against the band members of Papa Roach, then hang at Madison Square Garden with NBA Hall of Famer Walt Frazier. “It’s got a rock-and-jock feel to it,” Hess says. Fans enter the random-draw sweeps on-premise or off, or via jimbeam.com. (About one third of entries come online, Hess says.)

Beam had to find a private venue in Manhattan since liquor brands are restricted from public events — and the brand didn’t want to spur ill will from families. Winners play at Chelsea Pier with the Empire State Building as their backdrop — and signage facing in towards the fenced-in court. Beam chose Papa Roach because “they’re first-year rookies, multi-platinum with edgy music, but all family guys and strong with promotional tie-ins,” Hess says. GMR Marketing, New Berlin, WI, helps Beam pick bands as part of the shop’s work on Jim Beam Backroom, an ongoing music program that gives grants and studio time to emerging bands and helps key Beam accounts find new talent for shows.

A summer-long on-premise effort, Friends in a Flash, wraps up this month. Bars in 28 markets (tapering to 12 by summer’s end) host brand teams taking group photos framed in a template of Beam’s “Real Friends” print ads for the subjects to take home. Bar patrons get a card with a PIN so they can see their photos at jimbeam.com, and enter them into a contest for a chance to appear in a real Beam ad (including a trip to L.A. for the photo shoot). “This is the first year we’ve tied in our [ad] creative look to promotions,” Hess says. Young & Rubicam, Chicago, handles ads.

“On-premise events are more interesting now because that’s where young adults have their first drinking experience,” says Maas. Because alcohol is an acquired taste, “if you can get the consumer to try your product right when they enter legal drinking age, you can get them for a long time.” That’s why Beam invests heavily in on-premise: “You don’t get a return on that investment, but if you can convert the consumer, it’s worth it,” Maas explains.

Jim Beam holds a 60-percent share of the bourbon category and a three-percent share of the total distilled spirits business, which hit 165 million cases in 2000. Distilled spirits volume has grown an average of three percent since 1997, when the Echo Boom started coming of age. Bourbon came back in vogue alongside cigars and steakhouses, skewing younger than in past decades.

Four is not a crowd in Jim Beam’s prize pool.

The brand this month wraps up a sweeps awarding a grand-prize trip for four friends and readies another to break next month.

The tack helps Jim Beam Brands’ court men 21 to 26, its target audience since a 1999 repositioning. It also continues Beam’s strategy of unique trips as grand prizes: Last summer, the brand brought 100 winners and friends to its Louisville, KY, distillery for a Rock the Rackhouse private concert (December 2000 PROMO).

“The only real way to get word of mouth is to be intimately involved with consumers, and you can only do that on a local level,” says vp-global brand management Tom Maas. “Anyone can send someone to the Bahamas. We want to create an aura around the brand that’s relevant, [so we ask], ‘What do guys want to do on a free weekend?’”

Real Deal breaks August 1, with on- and off-premise and online entry. Grand prize is a trip for four to Las Vegas via private jet with Playboy Playmates on board, a weekend suite (think Hard Rock Hotel), and $20,000 spending cash. Communicator Worldwide, Chicago, handles.

“It’s the ultimate guy trip,” says manager of promotional marketing Chris Hess. “The brand team is all in its early 30s. It’s not too hard to sit in a brainstorming session and say, ‘What do we want to do?’”

Seventy percent of Beam consumers are men. Future promos may widen the appeal to women, but for now, the action is set for guys.

The effort follows a second-quarter sweeps, Throw Down the Rock, that this month sends one winner and three friends to New York City to play basketball against the band members of Papa Roach, then hang at Madison Square Garden with NBA Hall of Famer Walt Frazier. “It’s got a rock-and-jock feel to it,” Hess says. Fans enter the random-draw sweeps on-premise or off, or via jimbeam.com. (About one third of entries come online, Hess says.)

Beam had to find a private venue in Manhattan since liquor brands are restricted from public events — and the brand didn’t want to spur ill will from families. Winners play at Chelsea Pier with the Empire State Building as their backdrop — and signage facing in towards the fenced-in court. Beam chose Papa Roach because “they’re first-year rookies, multi-platinum with edgy music, but all family guys and strong with promotional tie-ins,” Hess says. GMR Marketing, New Berlin, WI, helps Beam pick bands as part of the shop’s work on Jim Beam Backroom, an ongoing music program that gives grants and studio time to emerging bands and helps key Beam accounts find new talent for shows.

A summer-long on-premise effort, Friends in a Flash, wraps up this month. Bars in 28 markets (tapering to 12 by summer’s end) host brand teams taking group photos framed in a template of Beam’s “Real Friends” print ads for the subjects to take home. Bar patrons get a card with a PIN so they can see their photos at jimbeam.com, and enter them into a contest for a chance to appear in a real Beam ad (including a trip to L.A. for the photo shoot). “This is the first year we’ve tied in our [ad] creative look to promotions,” Hess says. Young & Rubicam, Chicago, handles ads.

“On-premise events are more interesting now because that’s where young adults have their first drinking experience,” says Maas. Because alcohol is an acquired taste, “if you can get the consumer to try your product right when they enter legal drinking age, you can get them for a long time.” That’s why Beam invests heavily in on-premise: “You don’t get a return on that investment, but if you can convert the consumer, it’s worth it,” Maas explains.

Jim Beam holds a 60-percent share of the bourbon category and a three-percent share of the total distilled spirits business, which hit 165 million cases in 2000. Distilled spirits volume has grown an average of three percent since 1997, when the Echo Boom started coming of age. Bourbon came back in vogue alongside cigars and steakhouses, skewing younger than in past decades.