A frequently asked question from brands who want to work with bbb drinks as their UK spirits distributor is “How do you get a listing at The Ned?”
Part of the Soho House Collective, The Ned is an iconic institution, set in a former bank in the City of London. With a luxury hotel, private members club, plus 9 bars and restaurants housed inside, it’s no wonder that The Ned is such a highly sought after listing for spirits brands.
As such a desirable listing, their bar team is inundated with requests from spirits brands, making it difficult to get a foot in the door.
But, with gentle persistence and an in-depth understanding of what The Ned wanted from new spirits brands, Mario, the UK Brand Ambassador for Manly Spirits, won a listing agreement there at the end of 2022.
Part of the agreement included two activations at The Ned to help drive sales and brand awareness amongst their customer base.
Task
As a brand who receive not only UK spirits distribution, but also marketing services, our Brand & Marketing Manager, Charlotte was able to support Mario and create a campaign which extended reach and was “on-brand” for Manly Spirits.
Distilled on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, part of the brand identity for Manly Spirits is their idyllic location.
To help tell the brand’s unique story and inspire consumer imaginations during the bleak mid-winter, Charlotte identified an opportunity for an activation at The Ned in January to coincide with Australia Day.
Not only did the campaign help to deliver the Manly Spirits brand story, but it was also well received by The Ned who were keen to attract customer attention during a challenging trading period in January.
Action
After identifying the opportunity, Mario created an “Australia Day” activation proposal for The Ned which included:
Once this was approved by The Ned, Mario and Charlotte worked closely to organise the supper club, host the team training and promote the activation across the Manly Spirits UK social media channels.
Result
Gin of the month
The Ned selected Manly Spirits Coastal Citrus gin as “Gin of the month” and promoted it on their drinks menu in a “Collins” cocktail and G&T. As a result of this activity, The Ned placed an order for 25 bottles of Manly Spirits gin from their wholesaler, Speciality Drinks which was a significant increase from the previous month.
Supper Club
22 x Ned’s Club members attended the Manly Spirits supper club on Australia Day and enjoyed a three course meal and masterclass, paired with Manly Spirits cocktails.
The event was promoted to members through The Ned’s e-marketing which helped to increase brand awareness.
Digital marketing
Part of the marketing services package that Manly Spirits receive is management of their social media channels. To promote this campaign, we created unique content at The Ned and shared across the Manly Spirits UK channels, targeting their audience of UK consumers.
Content from the activations were also shared across bbb’s social media channels, targeting an audience of bartenders, retail buyers and spirits industry leaders.
This activation demonstrates how activations for spirits brands can be amplified when the sales and marketing teams work closely together.
Curious to discuss our sales and marketing services for spirits brands?
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