Media falls in love with Amarula Valentine's promotion


Amarula Cream wanted to generate media coverage around the Valentine's Day buying period, a key holiday for the brand. But awareness for the African-originating brand in the U.S. was low and needed a clutter-busting idea to break through the typical flowers and candy messages.

B-F Online worked with the brand team on a reverse messaging strategy that went against the grain of the normal Valentine's Day sentiment. Creating an online-only contest, Amarula invited consumers to submit a reason why they didn't like Valentine's Day, along with their favorite Amarula cocktail recipe. The winners received a trip for two to Chicago - home of the St. Valentine's Day massacre. In addition, B-F Online administered an omnibus survey of 1,000 adults posing the same question and incorporated their responses into a news release sent to beverage trades, daily newspapers and alternative publications.

The result? Online media on The Onion delivered 9.1 million impressions, press releases generated another 25 million impressions, and traffic to the Amarula web site increased 500%.