Exploitation of the REAL Captain Morgan's Life, Love and Loot

I was recently on Facebook today and I noticed the new Captain Morgan USA video. After watching it, I was intrigued so much with the new brand positioning that Diageo, the world's leading premium drink business took with the real-life privateer that I had to make a blog about it.

Last month I remember posting a blog in regards to Ben Silverstein and his idea of advancing TV production companies into the undeveloped realm of advertainment. I barked down on the idea because their needs to be an underlying story of the brand. Also the brand needs to have a strong rememberance of the characteristics the brand encompasses among consumers in order to implement this. If not, then the content would not be effective in growing the market share of participating companies optimizing their brands and all their money wasted in producing, marketing and exploiting it through TV networks would all fall to pieces.

But in the case of Captain Henry Morgan, I find it to be possible. This is because Captain Henry Morgan, as mentioned earlier, was a real-life privateer!

According to the Captain Morgan website, "In 1654 a young Henry Morgan left his native Wales for the West Indies...A born leader, he quickly became Captain Henry Morgan and became famous as a legal pirate or Buccaneer, defending British interests and generally rocking the Caribbean...exploits on the high seas earned him a knighthood and by 1680 Sir Henry Morgan was a plantation owner and Governor of Jamaica. There he lived out his final days until his death in 1688."

Because there literally lived a Captain Henry Morgan, I can visually see a motion-pictured mini-series with what Academy-Award winning Director Tom Hooper, is in the mist of creating.

This works because you already have a story embedded within the brand. And not to even mention, rarely any consumer, especially those who drink Captain Morgan's Spice Rum, know about that story. So why not exploit it with the product to grasp more of the Rum Market?

PRNewswire ran a press release last month of the production of the new AD campaign Captain Morgan USA was taking with renowned director Tom Hooper. As mentioned verbatim in the press release by Tom Herbst, Brand Director of Captain Morgan USA, "For the first time, we're bringing to life the mystery and intrigue surrounding Henry Morgan...we are ecstatic to have Tom play an integral role in revealing an exciting new side of the brand."

PRNewswire also mentioned this is the first within a series the company will produce in broadcast televison later this month of May. I find this campaign to be much more effective than the other commercial broadcasts in penetrating a market.

I can see the company really going far with their new take of the brand, and while doing so, really grasp a new market share with the Spicy Rum.

Why, I can even see their new film content being cross-sold or product placed on Pirates of the Caribbean. (Makes me wonder who can outdrink the other: Captain Jack Sparrow or Captain Henry Morgan???)

Either way, I definitely see so much potential for the new positioning of this brand and I most certainly see advertainment being utilized within it.

Thoughts??