Case Study: Mike's Hard Lemonade achieves engaging Instagram Stories launch with Shutterstock Custom

Mike's Hard Lemonade - Customer Case Study

Mike’s Hard Lemonade, a U.S.-based premium malt beverage maker, wanted to experiment with Instagram Stories to build intrigue around a winter seasonal product launch. The brand needed a fast, cost-effective way to create high volumes of engaging vertical content and was looking for guidance on best practices for organic Stories. To do that, Mike’s Hard Lemonade partnered with Shutterstock Studios and its Shutterstock Custom solution.

Shutterstock Studios helped Mike’s Hard Lemonade calibrate its brand look and feel, then run a creative brief asking contributors to hide a bottle of Mike’s Hard Chilled Cherry in ice and reveal it with a winter theme. The final Instagram Story included 3 stills and 2 videos with post-production design and animation, reaching 10% of the organic audience with a 27% churn rate and ranking in the top quadrant versus similar companies in the experiment. The entire project took 20 days from briefing through shooting and posting.

Mike's hard lemonade

Kellye Lopez

Digital and Social Media Manager