Rapid premiumization – and a flood of new entrants – has changed the American Whiskey category, and risks alienating modern drinkers. This is felt most by mainstream whiskeys, like Jim Beam, who have seen growth stall, share dictated increasingly by price.

New drinkers have, instead, been seduced by tequila’s trendiness and the convenience of RTDs. Drinks that feel lighter and social by nature. A stark difference from the world whiskey has created and perpetuated: one that champions rugged individualism.

But throughout its 225+ year history, Jim Beam has always been made to be enjoyed with others, not for sips in solitude.

So to attract the next generation of drinkers we needed more than a message. We needed to craft a film that crackled with the palpable, visceral energy that only other people can provide. And use that to remind us all that being with other people is good for you.

To cast this film, we found a collection of people you might believably find at any local bar. But we made sure they didn’t feel ordinary—we wanted each character to feel like they had a story to tell. There isn’t an age or a demographic that binds them together - just the song, and each of them bring their different energies to it. Instead of casting to invented roles and backstories, we deliberately chose the most interesting characters we could find, and used the ways they came together as a group to help inform our story. We want people watching to be able to see themselves in this bar, not by showing them someone who looks like them, but by creating a crowd that anyone feels like they could instantly belong to.

People drink Jim Beam. But they didn’t see themselves as Jim Beam people. The brand didn’t have an awareness problem; it had a perception one. Impact, for us, meant driving a shift in drinkers’ minds, from legacy brand that blended into the background to one they felt was made for them, that they’d proudly order by name.

By showing our audience a moment of spontaneous collective joy that they recognised from their own nights out, “Sweet Caroline” made these drinkers see Jim Beam in a new light - from a simple drink to a part of the social fabric. Old platitudes of welcoming gave way to a true sense of community and connection, bringing the brand into a livelier, more social space, where these drinkers live and play.