This year marked the 22nd edition of Tales of the Cocktail, an annual drinks conference held in New Orleans every summer. Thousands of hospitality and mixology luminaries gather for this annual meeting of education and networking, surrounded by hundreds of drink brands both big and craft, choosing from more than 400 different events and tastings.
Bacardi has been a partner for the event for several years, but in the face of this massive industry event, the brand needed a way to stand out from the crowd and make a lasting impression.
That’s where we come in:
“I’ve been working out of Bacardi U.S.A. HQ for over a decade, and have never seen a drink theater solution quite like the Ripple Maker. It’s a turnkey and customizable way to offer an ‘Instagrammable’ cocktail to your customers and their consumers. Perfect for any limited-time offer or seasonal opportunity.”
– David Ashcraft, Senior Manager Customer Marketing On-Premise, Bacardi USA
Thanks to the Ripples platform, Bacardi was able to highlight different liquors from their brand portfolios across multiple events, featuring their iconic and eye-catching logos, custom cocktails, and incredible brand prints on each cocktail served. Using a few key strategies Bacardi was were able to create memorable brand moments right on their drinks at the Tales of the Cocktail Conference.
Bacardi Sponsorship Strategy #1: Serve Drinks Topped with the Product Logo
At sponsored events across the conference, Bacardi’s team served up beautiful foam-topped cocktails featuring Bacardi’s liquor brands. Topped off with beautiful interpretations of the iconic logos used in the recipe made each drink not only delicious but offered an unforgettable, welcome and impressive integrated brand moment.
Bacardi Sponsorship Strategy #2: Serve Personalized Drink Prints
Adding attendees’ names to the top of a cocktail, or printing an illustration of a jazz musician or a fleur–de–lis to commemorate the host city adds a special touch to each drink. Customized content increases the chance of social media shares.
Bacardi Sponsorship Strategy #3: Print Conference and Party Logos
Adding conference and party logos to each drink helps reinforce the party theme right down to the very last drop, and it helps Bacardi drinks get into the press photos and videos for the conference, like in this video from Forbes.
Bacardi Sponsorship Strategy #4: Commission Custom Branded Panels
Custom branded panels featuring different Bacardi brands highlight the sponsor from all the way across the bar.
Bacardi Sponsorship Strategy #4: Glow-in-the-Dark!
Sometimes international mixology pros can be hard to impress. The GLOW Ripple Pod is a plant-based UV-light sensitive drink ink that brings your nightlife activation to another level.
THE KEY TAKEAWAY: VERSATILE, PLUG-AND-PLAY CUSTOMIZATION
With the Ripples Platform, Bacardi was able to choose custom panels, designs, colors, and personalization options for each event. And for the bartenders on the ground, this meant a single tap on a screen with minimal impact on operational flow.
This created an easy, plug-and-play solution that let them maximize their impact across the conference and beyond – with social media shares and media attention to keep the party going long after the event comes to an end.
