Safe Deposit
Jennifer Youngberg of St. Louis had better luck with Jack’s safe than did Jack Daniel himself.
Youngberg left Lynchburg, TN, in June with $100,000 in silver dollars after winning Crack Jack’s Safe, the first-ever national sweepstakes from Brown-Forman Corp.’s Jack Daniel Distillery unit. She was one of 43 finalists chosen from the nearly 100,000 consumers who entered to win a chance at opening the safe – the same one that reputedly led to the death of the bourbon baron in 1911. (A broken toe incurred while kicking the safe brought on an infection that eventually killed Jack, according to legend.)
“We wanted to make our heritage relevant to young adults,” says Jack Daniel’s brand manager Erin Schlader. “We thought about giving away $1 million, but that didn’t seem to be in character. Jack used to give silver dollars to employees.”
The sweeps was offered via radio contests in 16 markets, an ad in Sports Illustrated, on-premise activity in bars, restaurants, and retail accounts, sports and social clubs, and the Internet. (Nearly one-third of all entries came in electronically.) Toronto-based Encore handled on-premise and event marketing; DraftWorldwide, Chicago, handled off-premise.
