The PRISM Award win on 15 May was a rewarding moment for Roth’s innovative partnership with G.H. Mumm on launching the highly anticipated Olympé Demi-Sec with the electrifying and well-loved influencer, Somizi Mhlongo. The campaign won a Gold award in the food and beverage category, the first time for this category.
Our intention from the onset was to “Be the Cause for Celebration” as we charted our course to deliver PR initiatives that were both relevant to champagne culture and provided occasions to drive brand awareness and talkability. We achieved this by partnering with influencers who live the brand and drive global conversations through bold storytelling.
“This win was indeed a cause for celebration! With a bold and daring approach, we created intricate value for both brands who share the success of this campaign and confirm the diligence we put into the campaign. The process, the team and the insights we harvest are the premises from which we develop campaigns that resonate with key audiences,” says Rorisang Setlogelo, MD of Roth Media.
As with every campaign, there are important take-outs that we evaluate to build into our repository of knowledge and experiences. These are the key lessons we learned when launching the G.H. Mumm Olympé Demi-Sec for Pernod Ricard.
Building brand love through key assets and partnerships
We know that to tap into celebrity events means customizing and developing ownership through key brand assets. GH Mumm invested in a limited-edition bottle reflecting Somizi’s “out of the world personality” to put him and South Africa at the centre of a global brand.
To create interest in local media streams, the output was a global and locally aligned PR strategy from Roth, where we seeded content to various local media outlets including broadcast, online and print publications.
We partnered with Makro where Somizi made an appearance and engaged personally with consumers by signing their bottle and facilitating photo ops for social media. This was instrumental in generating sales and further talkability and awareness both on the ground and on social media.
Start with the audience, not the influencer
For the launch, we used audience insights and the brand’s guiding principles when selecting our influencer, Somizi. This is the source that informs the brand experience by touching on cultural references to point of sale motivation.
Our audience research showed that significantly fewer women had consumed MCC/French Champagne and that they were younger and had a male skew. The research also found social media was a successful vehicle for brand awareness with 50% of the respondents saying they found the brand through social media activity in the past year.
The choice for us came easily, and we naturally chose Somizi, linking his success and happiness as our #CauseForCelebration with a G.H Mumm x Somizi Mhlongo’s limited signed bottle. Somizi appeals to both men and women and is bold and daring, just like Mumm. He also has a vast social media following with high engagement levels.
Events are platforms for widespread PR and talkability
Events are our brand experiences that touch on every part of our communication from cultural references to point of sale motivation. The Mumm Brunch was a display of intimacy and envy-inducing delights, including a high-brow guest list to celebrate the great reveal of the bottle for Somizi’s closest friends and family.
We used the shoot and launch brunch to allow champagne culture and celebration to meet in the middle, creating an intimate experience that helps fuel conversations through bold storytelling and unorthodox content strategies.
Roth Media’s willingness to aim for moon shots as an agency has helped build partnerships as opportunities to learn and break new ground. We are not just an agency, but a crucial guide in facilitating cutting edge campaigns to open market channels to bring client visible growth, brand salience and return on investment.
It is more than a win; the PRISM award is a toast for our “#CauseForCelebration”!
