Any festivalgoer this summer can’t have failed to notice drinks brands’ presence amongst the usual bar offering.
Oxfordshire’s Wilderness for instance saw the likes of Wines from Rioja, Jose Cuervo and Veuve Clicquot immersing guests in their brands. With food pairings, tutored tastings and intimate gigs as part of their bar activations, these brands will be firmly embedded in the memories of those who visited them, and their products associated for evermore with their guests' festival experiences.
In a busy market place, alcohol brands are constantly seeking new and original ways to stand out from their competitors and, with a long dwell time, festivals offer the perfect environment to engage with consumers and increase brand awareness through experiential marketing. But how do alcohol brands go about surprising and delighting consumers through experience on a smaller, day-to-day scale?
This summer, we’ve been lucky enough to deliver several exciting experiential marketing campaigns across the UK for alcohol brands. And we’ve done it at point of sale in just a 2x2m space in the foyer of supermarket stores.
We helped Jura take consumers on a virtual flight to the Scottish highlands. Our passengers got comfy in our in-foyer jet plane seats and - with a sample of in-flight Jura in hand and the help of VR - 'flew' to experience a tour of the Jura whisky distillery.
We tied Amarula to the plight of the African elephant. Consumers were invited to digitally design their own elephant and share their support for International Elephant Day on social media, before plucking a marula fruit capsule from our tree to win a prize.
Whether it’s on the scale of a music festival or rolled out across stores nationally, the trend for alcohol brands using experiential marketing is only set to increase - so be prepared for drinks brands to continue to catch you unawares and bring you experiences to remember them and their tipple by.
