Cocktail Competitions In Brand Strategy

Are cocktail competitions effective from an advocacy and brand-building perspective?

The non-committal answer is….sometimes.

But they can also be a huge waste of money and resources.

This is not because cocktail competitions inherently don’t work….it’s because they are not planned and executed strategically.

You can imagine marketing teams coming up with the idea to host a cocktail competition in their planning meetings.

Just because drink brands love hosting a cocktail comp, does not make them effective.

We see so many poorly conceived and executed cocktail competitions with no pull-through from an ROI perspective. The issue is, on the face of it they are straightforward – create format, set prizes, get entrants and host competition.

Job done, let’s move on.

This is a damaging and expensive approach. Trust us we’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly on this.

If you are a brand curating a cocktail competition, here are #4 things you need to consider.

1. What Is The Objective?

It goes without saying that cocktail competitions are hosted to forge new industry relationships and build brands. But a clear objective is key.

How does a cocktail competition fit in with the wider brand strategy?

For example, if you are a brand targeting premium on-trade venues, then you need to curate a competition reflective of that ambition. This means the right entrants, the right format and hosted in the right venue.

The image above is of the Elit Martini Masters, which our team worked on last year. Elit is a super premium vodka so the competition needed to reflect that.

We focused on riffing a classic serve (the martini), recruited tier 1 bartenders to compete and hosted the competition in The Rosewood, which aligns with the brand’s market positioning. In other words…it all makes sense.

For a cocktail competition to be effective, its non-negotiable to be clear about the objectives.

2. Marketing

Cocktail competitions are ten a penny.

The market for them is unbelievably saturated, so if you want to experience brand pull-through with the trade, you must create a solid marketing strategy for before and after the competition.

A solid marketing strategy to get top bartenders to enter and to keep wider industry eyes on your brand is vital during the competition rollout is vital.

Alongside this, a properly onboarded RTM team to sell the competition to bartenders is arguably the most important thing to nail. The RTM team are the boots on the ground, have great direct relationships with bars and are talking to bartenders every day.

They will be the key ambassadors for the competition, so ensure they are properly briefed and committed to driving the message in the field.

3. Make It Unique

As mentioned, there are so many cocktail competitions every year, so it’s key that brands get creative with the competition format to engage bartenders.

As a brand manager or brand owner, you have to realise that a bartender’s attention is in demand and only interesting events or competitions will engage them.

Bartenders value experiences and relationships above all else, so craft your competition format with that in mind, if you do that you can’t go too far wrong.

An extension of this also is ensuring the prize is eye-catching. Bartenders do love competitions but will only enter 1 or 2 a year. With that in mind, a don’t scrimp on the prize, a key driver for entries and word of mouth is a great prize.

A recent example of a bullseye competition prize, that didn’t break the bank was the Desi Daru Culture Colliders competition.

The top prize ticked the boxes of cash (£2000), experience (a Michelin star meal for 2) and advocacy (a distillery trip). While not the biggest prize amongst cocktail comps, it will have certainly been eye-catching for prospective entrants.

4. Post Competition Engagement

We see drink brands neglect this time and time again. They spend time and money building relationships with top bartenders through the competition series and then let the foundations of that relationship fall away after the end of the competition.

Cocktail competitions give a great platform for brands to meet bartenders and build meaningful relationships with them.

We tell you this, drink brands must have a post-competition strategy aimed at staying in the hearts and minds of bartenders.

Creating genuine love for your brand in the trade takes time. See the cocktail competition as your opportunity to make connections in the trade, the next steps are building those connections into brand fans in the following months.

While there is definitely a strong case for the importance of cocktail competitions in brand building, they must be delivered strategically and with clear objectives.

We see brands get it wrong all the time and we can understand why; creating and executing highly effective cocktail competitions takes a lot of know-how, a deep understanding of the market and a very clear strategy.

That said, there are incredible examples of cocktail competitions that have been a rocket for brand affinity including Diageo World Class, Bacardi Legacy and the Patron Perfectionists.

These competitions have become iconic and known the world over, which is an unbelievable outcome for the associated brands.