While gin is having a moment, with the super-premium category surging by 16% in 2023, the botanical booze is still dwarfed by the sales of whiskey and vodka within the U.S., according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. With loads of room to grow, Bombay Sapphire sees a chance to make gin more relevant and approachable to help insure than the subsequent generation of drinkers reach for gin.
To that end, the Bacardi brand launched the “Tastes Like It’s Friday” campaign last summer, positioning a mix of Bombay Sapphire and Sanpellegrino Limonata as a gateway into gin, with ads describing the cocktail as “mainly Friday in a glass.” As the weather began to warm up this yr, Bombay returned with the newest iteration of the campaign, marketing the beverage with a DJ set by queer icon Rebecca Black, the emerging pop star who went viral back in 2011 for her infamous song “Friday.”
The brand on Feb. 27 brought Black to South Beach, Miami, to DJ a set that saw the musician remix “Friday” with a sample of Charli XCX’s “360” — the opening track of the British star’s Grammy-nominated, culture-hacking album “Brat.” The event also took place on the identical day as the discharge of Black’s latest EP, “Salvation.”
“Rebecca being the reigning queen of Friday herself and having that natural tie to the drink’s occasion, paired along with her effortless approach to life and the best way she approaches her music, we actually knew that she’d be an ideal partner and help us to proceed communicating the campaign’s messaging, allowing us to reach a brand new generation of drinkers with a cocktail,” said Jaime Keller, brand director for Bombay Sapphire.
As its name suggests, the “Tastes Like It’s Friday” campaign is about capturing the potential of the weekend in a cocktail — the brilliant, sparkling, citrusy Bombay Sapphire Sparkling Lemon cocktail — that could be enjoyed any day of the week.
“Yes, it is a drink, but it surely’s greater than that,” Keller said. “The cocktail is really about bringing gin into the sunshine, making memory structures for consumers which can be different than a few of their previous perceptions.”
Influencers and experiences
The “Tastes Like It’s Friday” campaign includes social media, media partnerships and digital and online video elements. In addition, lifestyle creators will likely be tasked with breaking down misconceptions about gin on their very own channels, content that Bombay can boost through paid media.
“[Content creators] are tapping into their very own cultural cachet as they convey with their fan base,” Keller said. “It also serves as an important platform and a chance for influencers to show their fan base how delicious and easy the Sparkling Lemon is to make.”
The campaign first kicked off last summer with a pop-up lounge at Grand Central Station where the brand served Bombay Sapphire Sparkling Lemons to greater than 10,000 consumers — each regular gin drinkers and category newcomers — in the intervening time they transitioned from their workdays to their personal lives.
Pop-up lounges let Bombay Sapphire connect with consumers as they transitioned from skilled to personal life.
Courtesy of Bombay Sapphire
Along with pop-up lounges and celebrity-led DJ sets, Bombay Sapphire will extend the campaign’s experiential activations to bartender residencies, tasting events and office happy hours in major metropolitan areas through 2025.
“We have a look at how we are able to intercept consumers after they’re transitioning from the office to wherever they could be going,” Keller said. “That brings a mixture of the tradition of the brand and the modernity of the way by which we are able to connect consumers.”
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