Ball Corporation

Food & Beverage

A Polished Obsession with Canned Beverages

Ball Corp: Putting the Can on a Pedestal

Challenge

While most know Ball Corporation for their iconic glass jars, nearly one third of all canned beverages worldwide hit the market in aluminum containers made by Ball. Look East, a PR and Communications Agency, engaged Native as a partner on a campaign project with the objective to enhance the image of and grow consumer support for canned craft beer and wine.

Solution

At the onset, Native studied two distinct audiences: the consumer (the drinker) and the customer (the brewery, winery, restaurant, bar or brand). We decided to prioritize speaking directly to the consumer to increase their demand of cans from the customer. We knew customer motivation would be influenced by messaging about consumers wanting and loving cans.

We researched client competitors and analyzed consumer research in order to consolidate our efforts into two key consumer audience segments: the Scientist and the Gourmet. We developed a brand voice, key themes (sustainability, portability, quality, obsession) and creative concepts. Next, we put our work to the test with a campaign naming exercise by mocking up one logo across a variety of activations for the core audience to react to.

Festival Activation

The prevailing name, Crushing on Cans, was the launching pad for the campaign creative. The concept behind the name was about exaggerating today’s culture toward brand obsession, in this case for canned alcohol. Instead of focusing on a product transaction, we wanted to flaunt a relationship.

We used loud, saturated color, monochromatic photography and idolized style to reach the Scientist and Gourmet audiences that expect superior quality and beautiful design. Like the visuals, copy was both polished and exaggerated, demanding greatness yet bending to obsession.

The idea was to introduce the campaign through several craft beer and wine festivals. Activations were designed to be highly interactive, with unexpected touch points and shareable engagements. Our strategy was for consumers to engage in person, leading to selfies and social interaction, and ultimately, website traffic.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Once launched, Crushing on Cans social channels provided consumers opportunities to influence others. Data reinforced the fact-lover’s perspective that cans are ideal packaging, and cans were repositioned into elevated pieces of art for the tasteful drinker.

VIDEO

We planned engaging video content with the core concept “Cans in Unexpected Places” to utilize influencer partnerships, speak to the different messaging themes, and reinforce cans as the superior choice. Teasers would play on social, and audiences could view full videos on the website.

WEBSITE

The Crushing on Cans website was the full hub of our work, and where audiences could dive deeper into the themes. The site displayed an art gallery design, using similar visual styles as social. An Obsession page highlighted new favorite canned beverages and upcoming events, positioning the site as the source for keeping consumers in the know.

The market continues to see an increase in demand, with craft beer and wine continuing to rise and mixed cocktails making their way on the scene.