Category: CONUSMER RELATIONS

SPI Distribution (Latvia)Re-labeling Latvian symbolRiga Black balsam

SummaryFor 260 years Riga Black balsam has been one of the most acknowledged Latvian symbols. People know Balsam's legend, honors it as a national pride and as Latvian historical heritage. Main Balsam users are older people and tourists, but it is not that loved among younger generation. Riga Black balsam de-cided to increase sales by reaching new audience and refreshing the brand.As any alcohol producer, Balsam faces legal restrictions for advertising and publicity. The challenge of the campaign was to inform society about Balsam activities while national media are passive commenting news related to alcoholic drinks. Riga Black balsam decided to be brave and allow society to impact its key element of the brand – the label. 260th anniversary label contest was announced inviting young designers to develop different anniversary labels that would be produced in limited edition.Having such historic heritage on its shoulders, Balsam took significant risk in changing its label. The risk paid off: sales increased, people shared positive feedback on Facebook site, 50 high quality label designs were developed. The campaign gained wide media publicity and good reviews from stakeholders and soci-ety.

SituationRiga Black balsam is not only one of the most typical souvenirs for tourists, but for 260 years favorite strong drink among older generation of Latvians. Its ceramic bottle and brown label is a well known image for many. On the other hand, as any alcohol producer Balsam faces limitations of advertising, also media are not that willing to write about strong drinks. Balsam decided to boost sales by refresh its brand and attract younger generation that traditionally is not that fond of this drink.

ObjectivesConsumer research showed that main users of Riga Black balsam are within the age group of 30-55 years. Company felt the need to raise awareness of its products and refresh the brand in a new target audi -ence.Main objective of campaign was to increase sales and attract and engage young active people in age group 24-35. Company decided to show that Balsam is not only Latvian historical value, but it can be modern and development-oriented brand.Secondary objective was to increase publicity volume and engage with media representatives, who tradition-ally are avoiding to write about alcohol producers and brands.

StrategyThe main task of the campaign was to empower young designers to create Riga Black balsam's 260th an-niversary limited edition labels and allow younger generation and society to take part in decision-making about the winning label to be used in production.Secondly, create quality visual material and story for Latvian and international media representatives.Thirdly, reach target audience and refresh the brand by joining social media platform Facebook.Fourthly, Engage reputed partners such as Latvian Institute, Latvian Designer’s Society, Riga Tourism De-velopment Bureau LIVE Riga and Latvian Bartenders Federation in the campaign.Criteria:

-number of works submitted in competition for label;-activity and content on Facebook;-publicity volume;-increase in sales.-

Baltic PR Awards 2012

ExecutionDuring campaign from May 2012 till September 2012 various events were organized that supported engage-ment with young generation and media. The core of the campaign was contest for young designers to create design for limited edition Riga Black balsam labels.Local celebrities were endorsed in a campaign opening event that announced the contest for label design. Society, especially targeting younger audience, was engaged via Facebook page created for this campaign. People could vote for their favorite label designs. Jury consisting of experts of tourism, culture, business were also involved in choosing the contest winner.Best contest works were exhibited in Old Riga in large print, attracting society's and media attention. Bal-sam's anniversary label was launched in yearly Riga Cocktail festival. Media, contestants and jury were also invited to a special tour to Riga Black balsam factory.

Documented ResultsPrecisely 50 anniversary label designs met contest requirements and the best one was selected to be printed for limited edition Riga Black balsam 260th anniversary’s labels. Exhibition of labels was a great visual material for media content. More than 8000 people in age group 24-35 years were reached via Facebook page created for this cam-paign. More than 200 people shared Balsam’s events, 1600 followers explored previous activities and more than 3000 people weekly followed Balsam’s activities by exploring galleries.Due to many legal restrictions that limit alcohol producers activity on media, previous media coverage for Balsam was poor. Campaign gained more than 80 publications in national and international media within 4 months, which is 4 times more than in the previous year.Riga Black balsam's trade mark total sales after campaign increased by 13% (the total alcohol market in the country is +2.7%). Balsams’s 0.5l bottle (limited label is placed only on one SKU) sales in September-October have increased by 62% vs. the same period y. 2011.