Amber Beverage UK London Cocktail Week Activation
The Brief
Drinks distributors Amber Beverage UK tasked The Cocktail Service with the delivery of a London Cocktail Week activation for four brands in their portfolio.
The 2022 edition of the festival saw four “little cocktail villages” popping up throughout the capital.
TCS oversaw management of the Covent Garden Little Cocktail Village. Our aim: promoting brands Rooster Rojo Tequila, Puerto De Indias Gin, Stoli Vodka and Bumbu Rum.
“The Cocktail Service consistently interpret briefs with ease, are creative in their ideation and most importantly deliver high quality on time working across our brands.”
– Liam Jackson, UK Marketing Lead Stoli Group – Amber Beverage UK
The Extraordinary Experience
Branded bar assets
We oversaw the design and installation of two branded bars for the Bumbu Rum and Puerto di Indias brands. As well as mobile bar hire, we also managed the installation of two Amber Beverage UK assets for Stoli Vodka and Rooster Rojo Tequila.
Our branded bars had to be engaging and inviting enough to entice busy Londoners to stop, check out the stand, and grab a drink.
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Designing the branded bar assets
From working on a Buffalo Trace activation at London Cocktail Week we knew that the organisers would do a great job promoting the festival.
Our bar brand activation therefore had to live up to the promise of these communications!
Our first step was to explore the branding of each of the four spirits on display at London Cocktail Week. Our design partners then drew up designs to capture the personality of each brand.
After advising the team at Amber Beverage on the best bars to use for this style of activation we designed magnetic panels to clad the bar units.
We wanted the Puerto De Indias bar to embody the brand’s mission statement of transforming minds and palates and creating a stir.
The design had lots of bright pink and neon, representing their famous strawberry expression.
For the Bumbu Rum bar, we took inspiration from the brands Caribbean heritage, and the iconic “X” logo.
We crafted a bar designed with wooden cladding, and the tagline “Bumbu is the G.O.A.T. of rum” taken straight from GQ Magazine.
Our planner team included space for branded activities into the layout of the village.
These included a bottle decorating activity with Jason Naylor and fire breather. Both Puerto di Indias and Rooster Rojo launched new expressions during the festival.
As well as being eye-catching and a natural draw for passers-by, each asset needed to be a fully independent working pop-up bar.
Drawing on years of experience managing pop-up bars we maximised all space available, offering an efficient service.
Bartender Hire
TCS provided bartender hire, sending 11 bartenders for each day of the activation.
Handpicked from our database of over 1,000 professional mixologists, each bartender was matched to one of the four brands.
We had great feedback from the public and client who loved interacting with our team.
London Cocktail Week Activation
2022 saw over 14,500 London Cocktail Week wristband wearers sampling delicious drinks across the capital’s bars and Little Cocktail Villages.
TCS served over 5,000 drinks to cocktail lovers, providing great exposure for all four brands.
Our bar team showcased the range, enticing guests to try signature London Cocktail Week serves.
TCS organised photography and video capture of individual activations throughout the festival for use on social media.
Both Rooster Rojo and Puerto di Indias launched new products at the London Cocktail Week activation.
First up was the launch of Rooster Rojo Ahumado – an exciting new smoked reposado tequila – at an exclusive tasting with Global Brand Ambassador Ansis Ancovs.
Next, the Puerto di Indias team launched their new Blackberry Gin during the festival.
The run also saw a collaboration with Stoli Vodka and artist Jason Naylor which gave guests the chance to decorate their own limited edition Stoli Vodka bottle.
Social Media & PR
The official London Cocktail Week feed featured the Covent Garden Little Cocktail Village in various social media posts. The Time Out Instagram feed also promoted the Little Cocktail Villages, resulting in 47.2k plays.
TCS assisted with boosting exposure for the event by social listening, searching Covent Garden check ins and hashtags relating to the area. We reshared any user generated content we found, tagging the brands and London Cocktail Week.
London Cocktail Week’s extensive social media campaign on Instagram and Facebook gained 500k post engagements.
On top of this the launch of the new Puerto di Indias and Rooster Rojo products gained PR coverage in trade media.
This was an incredible return on investment for all brands and bars taking part.
Experts in large scale bar activation
With over a decade of experience delivering complex bar activations for brands we’re uniquely placed to bring your vision to life.
Offering 360 campaign management, we will take care of the design, asset management, staffing and drink development for your activation.
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