Molson

When Molson saw that its male legal-drinking-age-to-29 target was spending more time on social media sites like Facebook, the brewer wanted to test this channel to connect with its consumers.

To avoid backlash and/or low acceptance of brands and advertising, Mediaedge:cia and Molson conducted an in-depth analysis, observing and interacting with consumers live within Facebook. Based on their findings, they developed a plan for two sponsored groups, one for Molson Canadian and one for Coors Light. In exchange for a media commitment to drive traffic to these groups, Facebook provided full access to back-end data and programming resources, category exclusivity and assistance in the creation of a new age-verification method linked directly to users’ profile data.

Working with the Molson marketing team and key agency partners, Mediaedge:cia developed consumer activation plans and created a template for the creative agencies to follow that would leverage all the tools within the Facebook environment. The Molson Canadian Intern for a Day contest encouraged users to upload video applications that were voted on by the group’s members. The Coors Light Name that Caption contest invited users to post captions for an off-the-wall picture, and received over 800 posts. The Coors Light Action Sports Video contest asked users to post videos of action sports feats, and the winner was featured on MTV.ca.

Within a short time, Molson’s two groups became the largest Canadian-sponsored groups on Facebook, nearing 50,000 active members and amassing over 1,500 photo posts, 150 video uploads and 3,000 posts on the walls and discussion boards.