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Top 10 spirits marketing campaign in May

Last month in marketing: Malibu unveiled a three-day summer tournament, Espolòn Tequila teamed up with Marvel antihero Deadpool and Gordon’s Gin debuted a ‘playful’ advert for its pink variant.

Here’s our pick of top marketing campaigns in May 2018

A whole host of summer activations dominated the spirits world last month, including the return of Jägermeister’s music venue Jägerhaus and the inaugural Malibu Games.

Pink gin was all the rage with both Diageo and Pernod Ricard releasing initiatives to drive sales for the pink variants of Gordon’s and Beefeater.

Meanwhile Campari America enlisted Deadpool as “creative director for culture ‘n’ stuff” for a Epsòlon Tequila campaign.

Over the following pages, we name our top marketing campaigns launched in May 2018.

Beefeater Pink

Pernod Ricard unveiled a strawberry-­scented advertising campaign for its Beefeater Pink gin in London’s Oxford Circus Underground station last month.

The campaign saw the station covered with Beefeater Pink marketing material, including four strawberry-­scented exit corridors and a vinyl­-wrapped escalator.

The two-­week activation was devised by marketing specialist Posterscope, and is part of a wider global brand campaign created by independent agency Impero, which includes digital, on-­trade and social media activations from Havas Media. Its aim was to be as “playful, fresh and as disruptive as possible”.

Espolòn Tequila

Campari America has partnered with 20th Century Fox on a new campaign for its Espolòn Tequila brand, featuring Marvel anti­hero Deadpool.

The Tequila brand has enlisted the character, played by actor Ryan Reynolds in the film, as “creative director for culture ‘n’ stuff” for a campaign to promote Deadpool 2.

The promotional campaign will include custom packaging, in­-store displays, out-­of-home advertising, social media, and a full­-page ad in the New York Times.

VK

Global Brands-owned ready-­to-­drink (RTD) beverage VK has launched a UK-­wide search for its next student brand ambassadors.

In a bid to appeal to 18­- to 24-­year­-olds, the initiative will give students the chance to be employed by the brand and represent its portfolio of flavours at their university.

To be in with a chance of securing the role, students have been encouraged to submit a short video highlighting why they would be the ideal candidate through VK’s website.

A VK ambassador tour will also travel to key university cities, including Sheffield, Nottingham and Cardiff.

Malibu

Pernod Ricard-owned rum liqueur Malibu invited singer Nick Jonas and more than 30 ‘global influencers’ to Vietnam for the inaugural Malibu Games.

Malibu’s programme of three­-day summer tournaments features “bold retakes” on summer games, including water fights and dance offs.

The event is part of the brand’s #BecauseSummer campaign, which aims to encourage drinkers to “unleash their summer selves”, inspiring consumers to live the best summer of their lives.

Rooster Rojo

Amber Beverage Group­-owned Rooster Rojo Tequila sponsored the J2 Racing team as it competed in the ADAC Zurich 24-­hour motor race in May.

Held at the Nürburgring in Germany, the race saw the J2 Racing team start with a new generation 2018 Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup car, which can reach up to 280kph and has a 480-­horsepower engine.

The €240,000 (US$285,000) car was adorned with the Rooster Rojo Tequila logo on the bonnet, and also featured black and red stripes on its white body.

Gordon’s Gin

Diageo has launched the first TV advert for Gordon’s Premium Pink Distilled Gin as an extension of the brand’s ‘Shall we…?’ campaign.

The 20­-second advert is a “light-­hearted” look at the UK’s “obsession” with photographing food and drinks to share on social media.

It will form part of a bigger multi-channel campaign for Gordon’s Pink, and support the launch of the ready-­to­-drink Gordon’s Premium Pink Distilled Gin & Tonic can.

Created by “new model” agency Anomaly, which worked with Unreasonably Studios and Curious Production, the advert will be broadcast on TV and video on demand throughout the summer.

Jägermeister

Herbal liqueur brand Jägermeister celebrated the return of its Jägerhaus music venue at London’s All Points East festival.

The hub will revisit UK festivals for the 2018 summer season, where it will host some of the best up­-and-coming musicians.

After having appeared at All Points East, the Jägerhaus will bring its “distinct fusion of incredible music and ice­-cold shots” to festivals throughout the summer.

Slingsby Gin

Slingsby Gin producer Spirit of Harrogate has partnered with Rudding Park Hotel and Bettys Cookery School to launch The Best of Harrogate Experience.

Guests will be treated to unlimited access to the hotel’s rooftop spa, a cookery class at Bettys Cookery School and the “Ultimate Gin Experience” with Spirit of Harrogate.

The Spirit of Harrogate leg of the experience will teach guests the history of gin, and will demonstrate how the tastes and styles of the spirit have evolved through the ages.

The experience is available to book between 31 July and 2 August 2018

Buffalo Trace

American whiskey producer Buffalo Trace Distillery has partnered with Kentucky River Tour to offer a “rarely seen view” of the distillery.

Tours will start in the Buffalo Trace Distillery gift shop and will then shuttle to Buffalo Trace’s on­site boat dock, where guests will embark on a 45­-minute boat tour of the Kentucky River’s Pool 3.

Employees at the distillery have submitted their name suggestions for the tour boat, with the final decision for the boat’s name being given to the public through a vote on the Canoe Kentucky Facebook page.

Tickets for the boat tour are priced at US$14 per person. Kentucky River Tour was founded by Nathan and Allison Depenbrock, and Clayton Embly, of Lexington Kentucky.

Tovaritch!

Russia-made vodka brand Tovaritch! has launched its T! drinks-cooler machine, designed by creative agency Proximity.

The “novelty tool” will dispense chilled shots of Tovaritch! vodka in bars in the UK, Belgium and France.

Distribution for the drinks cooler, which chills vodka down to ­17°C, will expand in Mexico, Australia and South Africa.

The brand hopes to distribute 1,000 drinks­-cooling machines before the end of 2018, with the first products hitting the back bar in July.

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