Jameson
Project: St. Patrick's Eve
Preserving an annual tradition – with a twist
After waiting seven years for St. Patrick’s Day to finally fall on a Saturday, Leap Year through out a curveball in 2024. The holiday would fall on a Sunday – but that didn’t stop Jameson. In turn, the brand was determined to ensure St. Patrick’s Day received its proper Saturday moment.
01The challenge
As the world’s #1 Irish whiskey, Jameson wants to own the St. Patrick’s Day occasion and celebration. When they learned it would fall on a date with historically lighter alcohol sales, they needed a new strategy.
02The solution
We were tasked with creating a scalable, earned-first idea to fuel Jameson’s ecosystem and position the brand as the drink of St. Patrick’s Day. To consumers, we wanted to reclaim the Saturday St. Patrick’s Day we all so deserved. And thus, a new holiday was born: St. Patrick’s Eve (SPE).
The calendar shouldn’t dictate when the party starts
To create a long runway for earned conversation, the team launched the campaign on February 15 – immediately after Valentine’s Day – featuring our hero talent, Saturday Night Live’s very own Michael Che and Colin Jost… two guys who know a thing or two about Saturday nights. The teaser content announced it was officially “St. Patrick’s Day season.” Riffing on New Year’s Eve, we put a Jameson twist on the traditions Americans love and recognize.
From SPE style with a limited-edition jacket to party favors distributed to hundreds of bars, and taking over the Las Vegas Sphere, LA Live and Chicago’s quintessential green river, we launched a month-long, nationwide countdown that culminated in a Jameson-ified ball drop in New York’s Times Square, bringing thousands of fans together to celebrate the new holiday together – and like only a “Jameson” would.
03The impact
Starting a new St. Patrick’s Day tradition
We drove 6.8B in total earned media impressions and 1.5B in paid media impressions – creating the biggest St. Patrick’s Day hype the world has ever seen. Across the United States, 350 bars celebrated St. Patrick’s Eve and 5K people showed up for our historic event in Times Square where we became the first spirit brand ever to orchestrate the iconic Swarovski ball drop on a day other than New Year’s Eve.
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