James Ready Brewery

James Ready now has a reputation for opening its brand up to drinker-collaboration, so the plan was to stay true to its purpose – to make drinkers essential to every bottle of beer and help them save money in a tough year, so that they could buy more.

Leo Burnett launched five key programs. With Billboard Coupons, JR partnered with small businesses to offering money-saving deals. People could take pictures of the billboards, show retailers and save on purchases.

JR then asked drinkers, “How can we help you save money?” The best response was, “Can you help us with our wedding?” On May 1, Dean and Cori-Ann Litster held their James Ready wedding, including invitations crafted out of beer labels and a bottle-topped wedding cake.

For the brand’s university fans, JR offered money-savers like free semi-professional haircuts and free portraits for a thrifty Christmas gift. A Beer Cap Calendar was included in every case to ensure drinkers didn’t miss an important date like pub night.

Traditionally, James Ready provides words of wisdom underneath every bottle cap. However, in late June there was a mix up at the plant and 2,423,407 caps went out blank. The brand issued an apology video on Facebook and asked drinkers to send in their blank caps in exchange for a mystery gift, such as a used hockey card.

During the period, shipments of 24 packs increased 27% VYA, while total volume including on-premise sales increased 24.3% VYA. This is the brand’s fourth year of consecutive growth, and the campaign picked up awards at shows including Cannes, the One Show, D&AD, the Clios and AToMiC.