Early Times Kentucky Whisky generated appeal for their brand at the Bassmaster Classic by offering a unique big-prize promotion to anglers: rather than just entering to win a prize, they had to catch it, with the help of professional angler Kevin Wirth. The promotion allowed Early Times to turn their small promotional budget into big results with promotional risk coverage.

Objectives:

• Generate buzz-worthy PR opportunities with a never-before-seen promotion.
• Compete with larger brands by making the most of limited marketing dollars.
• Drive consumers to Early Times’ Web site to build a database.
• Engage current consumers and attract new ones through their common interest in fishing.

Strategies:

• Invite consumers to enter online, in store, or on site at the Bassmaster Classic.
• Place 25 tagged fish into Lake Lanier in Georgia.
• Randomly draw one name to fish for a weekend with Kevin Wirth.
• Award $1 Million to the angler if he or she catches a tagged fish during the fishing trip.

Results:

• Early Times generated over four million media impressions, received over 7,500 online game entries, and increased the number of new consumers in their database by over 30%.