Walking on champagne bottles in heels. Metaphor for founder life, or Moët Hennessy activation?
That's not me in the photo, but it was still a real whirlwind at my first-ever Tales of the Cocktail Foundation conference last week!
A few takeaways from 4 straight days meeting with brands, agencies, and mixologists, over increasingly elaborate cocktails in New Orleans' 95+ degree heat:
1. The alcohol industry is truly a small world. Everyone knows everyone across brands, events, and venues, and it was so nice to see brands collaborating rather than competing across activations.
2. It's easy to separate the *product brands* from the *lifestyle brands* when you're stopping by dozens of booths and experiences in a row. Some brands brought their world so clearly to life, you wouldn't even need to see their logos (Shoutout to William Grant & Sons Hendricks Gin, Sweet Gwendoline French Gin, Moët Hennessy, Samson & Surrey )
3. Other brands faded into the mix - the cocktails stood out, but not the brands within them. I heard so many people throughout the week saying they’d just tried the best drink, but couldn’t remember which brand, the events just blended together. Not exactly something a brand would like to hear after spending hundreds of thousands of marketing dollars.
3. The key difference between #2 and #3 was interactivity. Brands that built gamification into their activations were not just more memorable, but more likely to drive word of mouth.
4. Finally, the gratitude for bartenders was real. The spirits industry is unique in depending almost entirely on third parties - stores, bars, bartenders - for sales. The focus through the conference on relationship building and giving back was lovely.
Already looking forward to next year! Rebecca Stein #gamification #eventsmarketing
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3moThis is great