2022 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

SingleCut Beersmiths is a NYC craft brewery that’s inspired by rock ‘n’ roll. Every craft beer the brewery produces pays homage to rock music. Their objective was to develop concepts for a new beer, Notes IPA, that continues to celebrate the brand’s roots, called Notes IPA. Most people think they’re great guitarists after a few beers. If Notes IPA could get people to pick up a guitar and genuinely improve their skills, it would become the purest fashion of craft beer and rock music. So, they decided to turn the Notes beer can into a rich product experience that would provide the tools and teaching to get you jamming in no time.

Notes IPA is the first beer crafted to teach you to play the guitar. They brought the beer to life as a fully integrated, 360-degree campaign, spanning product naming, branding, packaging and product design, posters and digital extensions. Every can of Notes IPA comes equipped with an injection-moulded guitar pick that fits right on the pull tab. These custom picks were designed to not only pop open the beer but also pop off for you to use to practice guitar. Four-packs of the beer came with four distinct labels, each displaying a foundational guitar chord: C, D, G and E-minor. By gripping the can like a guitar, you can learn the finger positions for each chord and get a feel for the strings through the label’s tactile finish. For an interactive demonstration, you scan the Snapchat code on the label to unlock an augmented-reality (AR) guitar lesson. This mobile experience allowed you to visualise finger positions for each chord right on the can, hear how the chords should sound, and create shareable music.

Custom shipping tubes were also designed in the image of a guitar neck, each one coming with the beer, pull tab picks and limited-edition campaign posters. These cases were sent out to some of the greatest guitar players in the US and Canada, along with a handwritten thank-you note from SingleCut’s founder Rich Buceta. Notes IPA sold out twice as fast as an average SingleCut release and was the brand’s most successful social initiative. The AR lens performed 500% above average engagement rates for Snapchat. Cost per swipe was $1 lower than benchmark ($0.48 vs $1.50) and the average time spent was more than 2x the benchmark (7.8secs vs 3secs). The campaign was featured on Dieline, major guitar blogs and Ad Age Editor’s pick of the day.

Credits

Agency: Zulu Alpha Kilo
Creative Director: Zak Mroueh
Head of Design: Stephanie Yung
ACD / Art Director: Kevin Sato
ACD / Writer: Vinay Parmar
Art Director: Philippe Visaya
Writer: Victoria Lee
Designers: Zoe Kim, Kevin Sato
Account Team: Erin McManus
Strategy Team: Spencer MacEachern, Shaunagh Farrelly
Client: SingleCut Beersmiths
Clients: Rich Buceta, Dan Bronson, Danielle Palermo
Producers: Houng Ngui, Kathryn Brown, Jackie Pal, Lauren Schell
Director of Interactive Production: Ece Inan
Director of Integrated Production: Ola Stodulska
DOP/Photographer: Sean Donnelly
Studio Director: James Graham
Senior Studio Artist: Jeannette Downes
Lead Production Artist: Ashleigh O’Brien
Lead Interactive Artist: Andrew Martin
Production Artist: Mila Lukezich
Post Production Assistant: Noah Mroueh
Social Media Editor: Cecilia Bernasch
Web Development Team: Gillian Black, Ariana Emond
Editor: Felipe Chaparro, David James Findlay
Product Design: Spark Innovations Inc.
Production Company: Zulubot, Table of Content