Publicis Santé for Malibu Rum

Reaching New Customers and Beating Category Fatigue

As the spirits market has evolved and more brands have come onto the market, category leaders like Malibu Rum need creative ways to reach new customers. The Malibu Rum team sought to understand the sales impact of advertising on Snapchat and identify which engaging ad formats were most effective.

An AR Lens Encourages Snapchatters to "Clock Off”

Malibu encourages consumers to “Do Whatever Tastes Good,” inviting them to escape into a Malibu world where work has already wrapped for the day and friends are always free. Partnering with Publicis Santé, Malibu developed the “Clock Off” campaign, tapping award-winning actor Brian Cox, famously known for portraying a workaholic, and reimagining him as a more carefree version of himself who chooses enjoyment over overwork — powered by Malibu.

On Snapchat, Malibu and Publicis Santé brought this “Clock Off” world to life through native formats that felt playful and participatory rather than like traditional ads. The hero execution was a gamified AR Lens that challenged Snapchatters to “avoid” everyday work responsibilities — like emails and meetings — in order to reach “Clock Off” status, Malibu cocktail in hand at the end of the experience. The Lens was amplified by Snap Stars who played the game while touting a Malibu cocktail, creating social proof and entertainment around the idea of stepping away from work. This was complemented by Commercials, Snap Ads, and Story Ads running across the platform, all reinforcing the same “Clock Off” creative idea and driving scale for the campaign.

Throughout the campaign, the team partnered with NCSolutions to understand the sales impact of advertising on Snapchat. NCS identified isolated incremental impact, giving the brand third-party validation of the sales growth and new customer acquisition generated by the Snapchat campaign:

• +8.52% sales lift ¹

• 3.22x ROAS ¹

• 86% of incremental sales came from new customers, indicating Snapchat’s strength in driving new household penetration for Malibu ¹

• 5.43x ROAS for AR Lens ads, the top performing format ¹

With the campaign Publicis Santé designed featuring star-studded creative that resonated with Snapchatters, a full-funnel campaign strategy, and collaboration with a third-party measurement partner, Malibu Rum gained new customers and a sales lift on Snapchat.