- Ready-to-drink cocktail brand Cutwater, which is owned by Anheuser-Busch, launched its first holiday campaign on Wednesday, Nov. 1, per a press release.
- The effort features a concierge service offering suggestions for making holiday entertaining easier. The Cutwater Holiday Concierge is accessible by dialing 1-833-DRINK-CW and via the brand’s Instagram. An accompanying sweepstakes includes prizes comparable to a $10,000 bar makeover.
- Media buys include out-of-home, social media and digital advertisements in addition to in-store programming in the weeks ahead. The holiday push is an extension of the brand’s “Open the Bar” platform and visual refresh that launched in February.
As the ready-to-drink cocktail category continues to grow, Cutwater is gearing up for the holidays with an emphasis on entertaining suggestions and its digital and social presence. The Holiday Concierge service was inspired by data showing pinpointing some of the pain points for party hosts when it comes to serving cocktails at a time when cocktail culture is prospering.
Among spirits drinkers who’re also hosts, 57% say it’s hard to satisfy everyone’s cocktail preferences, according to the research cited by Cutwater. Among party hosts, 70% want to have cocktails at home but don’t want to make them. Often, consumers find cocktail mixing to be a difficult process, with 56% of hosts saying they’ve a tough time finding time to make them at parties they’ve hosted and 53% saying that making cocktails is difficult in the first place. Additionally, 76% of spirit drinkers say their dream home features a home bar.
With its holiday concierge service, Cutwater becomes the latest brand to join a listing of marketers, including State Farm, Olay, Pure Leaf and Mike’s Hard, which have embraced an old-school marketing tactic — the hotline — to engage with nostalgia-hungry consumers.
The “Open the Bar” platform launched earlier this yr with messaging designed to make cocktail culture feel more accessible. It coincided with a visible refresh, including latest packaging designed to provide clearer graphic cues.
Entertaining can also be the theme of a holiday campaign from Three Olives Vodka, which is using AI to help consumers plan the perfect party. These efforts come as research shows consumers are drinking more at home versus at a bar or restaurant.
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