Captain Morgan

Speaking from the perspective of a Social Media consultant, the brand is essentially a goldmine of potential for rich media content, and they clearly know this; there’s a different Page for the brand in essentially every country on its distribution list.

It’s unusual that one brand can provide a joint case study of what to do and what not to do, but due to it’s multiple presences Captain Morgan seemingly accomplishes both on a daily basis.

For your viewing pleasure: The Captain Morgan USA Facebook Page.

The Page is funded through the nose. It’s dripping with great content of high production value. And despite perhaps an over-saturation of images, the page is a strong example of a well-executed campaign.

However it’s the creative direction of the content that actually sells the Page and by extension the brand:

The campaign is slick. Why?

1.)   It knows exactly whom it’s targeting.

Internet Memes (white, bold impact text) and instagram-esque filtered images connect with the younger demographic of between 18-25.

2.)   The writing is solid.

Whilst the underlying messaging employed by the campaign isn’t anything new (see Old Spice or the many examples since), the brand has given it enough of a spin that it feels original.  It walks the perfect razor-thin fine line between tongue-in-cheek humour and devil-may-care charisma and whilst it teeters occasionally, it never descends into complete self-parody or coming across as too full of itself.

3.)   The content is easily sharable.

Nobody is going to share something that blatantly promotes a brand whilst giving the reader nothing. Shares of the Captain Morgan content are consistently high because the content offers an audience a smile and a message that resonates.

However on the flip side of the coin, we have the Captain Morgan International Page

It obviously doesn’t work. But why?

1.)   It hasn’t got a clue what it’s doing.

Aesthetically, this looks like an ad for children’s birthday parties run by a guy whose ownership of a valid working with children check is questionable at best. It might be targeting a younger demographic but it doesn’t take them into consideration when building its visuals.

2.)   The messaging Is awful

Captain Morgan is a clown. This campaign doesn’t attempt to renew the appeal of the brand, it seems to be under the impression that everyone is already laughing at it, and is attempting to resort to self-deprecating humour in order to salvage itself. We don’t want to embody the “spirit” of captain Morgan here. If anything we want to disassociate ourselves and move him downwind as quickly as possible.

3.)   Where is the ROI?

You might snort at this, but you’re laughing at Captain Morgan, not with him. It’s not selling you him, or the product itself.

Social Media may be less expensive than television, but this doesn’t mean that the advertising should be cheap. It offers a means by which to convey the personality of a brand, and as such requires just as much consultation, consideration and flair as any other advertising channel. Arguably more.

Author Bio: Matthew Cox is a strategic consultant at Dialogue Consulting, a digital agency that specialises in Social Media training and community development. Hailing from a background in PR and communications, Matthew’s role has seen him work with a wide range of organisations across a number of different sectors. He specialises in building creative strategies to grow communities and launch organisations into the social media space. Matthew also writes frequently for the Dialogue Consulting blog which can be found at http://www.dialogueconsulting.com.au/blog/