The Honor Your Code campaign revolves around the idea that there’s a set of guiding principles that must be followed in life in order to live out our destiny of perpetual progression–to elevate ourselves and those around us. This is true for everyone, but especially true for our target, the African American male. The beauty of this campaign is how it speaks to the target’s morals and standards, a side of Black males, that is all too often ignored. The power of the campaign is that the idea lives on a continuum that allows the brand to connect to the target across all channels, with a wide rang of thematics and drinking occasions, spanning all the way from high energy, turn up party mode, to altruistic acts of shared success. 

BTS

We teased the campaign with a behind the scenes making of video that set the tone for the rest of the campaign.

The campaign, which highlights the unwritten rules African American males regard as part of the blueprint for achieving great things, was seeded with print. Because the messaging touched on the weight of the responsibility and the obligation that one feels to create a path to success for himself, as well as his community, the campaign became a source of pride for the target, as well as a lighthouse for Latinx, Asian and by extension White Millennials.

A much deeper connection was driven through a combination of paid, owned and earned social media posts, that highlighted a curated collection of high impact sponsorships, integrated experiential events and hyperlocal community outreach, that weaved Courvoisier into culture, with the idea of “Honoring Your Code” acting as a conduit for the brand showing up in the spaces and places where the target matriculates on their journey to self-discovery, and ultimately the self-actualization of their hopes and dreams.

DIGITAL

IN HONOR OF YOUR CITY

To extend the campaign beyond personal codes we created a content series that celebrated the codes that defined the brand’s key markets. To deliver true authenticity we partnered with HYPEBEAST to create a series of mini docs that took an unflinching look at the beautiful struggle. Titled In Honor of Your City, the series was beautifully captured by Kid Art, one of the brightest new stars in the directing game and featured prominent outliers from each locale.

We also held events to celebrate the codes of each city in person. Included A-list entertainment, profiles of local artisans and their crafts, interactive installations, a presentation of checks to community groups, as well as odes to city specific codes, plus a loop of the HYPEBEAST IHYC series. And of course, product sampling that included pairings for multiple marks of Courvoisier, with a host of instagrammable moments for attendees to share out in real-time, via social media.

To bring the whole campaign home, we used digital banners to lead the target back to the Courvoisier website, which we redesigned to tell the brand’s story through the lens of the Honor Your Code campaign, focusing on the standards and practices the brand follows to create the world’s finest cognac. This connected the consumer’s journey all the way back to the brand’s story in Jarnac, France, where every drop of Courvoisier is crafted under the direction of the strictest codes.

Digital | Social

HONOR THE LIQUID

Once we re-established Courvoisier as a brand who shared the same philosophy as the target, we began to focus on the product via executions that we would rotate into the purview of the target.

GLOBAL

HONORED AROUND THE WORLD

As the campaign raised the brand’s profile in culture and added to the brand’s bottom line, we were tapped to create executions for targets outside of African American Males, to be used in the U.S. and abroad, with the brand eventually adopting the Honor Your Code campaign globally.

The Results

The power of the idea behind Honor Your Code has put Courvoisier back on the map and re-ignited the energy around the brand, stealing market share from the category leader, operating with 1/10 of their budget.