How To Hire Bartenders For Events And Activations

We often see a one size fits all approach by brands and agencies when they hire bartenders for their events and activations.

Events and activation are key elements of a successful brand strategy. This activation allows the brand and their target consumers to meet in real life and build an emotional connection.

Now the last mile in activation is the brand representatives that consumers meet and in our view, this is the most important aspect to get right.

For drinks brand activation, this means bartenders.

It’s wild to think that many brands and agencies do not put the due care and attention to adequate and effective placement of bartenders. It’s such a vital aspect of any activation and ultimately, they are in complete control of the final consumer perception of your brand – which is a key responsibility.

As a drinks brand, bartender hire needs to be done with care and attention as the upside of nailing the right brand fit

As a bartender-focused agency, we shine a spotlight on the importance of bartenders in brand activation. Below are our views on how to get it right.

1. Clear & Well Thought Out Briefing on Activation Objectives

Brand teams and agencies must know that creating a strong brief for your partners is non-negotiable.

It takes on a new level of significance when being shared with bartenders who are running the brand activation.

Simple yet obvious, bartenders get brought to deliver brand activation at the eleventh hour. So while the brand teams and agencies have been immersed in the project for weeks or months, the bartenders who are the final connection between brand and consumer haven’t.

Just on this basis alone we don’t need to reiterate the importance of a great brief.

So ensure that the brief covers all the key objectives of your brand for the activation, how you want to show up in real life and the key actions you want to see from the bartender you hired.

Specifics such as data collection, and sample KPI’s are great, as are how you want the bartenders to interact with guests – do you want bubbly effervescence from the team or refined and controlled service?

The bartenders need to know about the guests at the activation, where it is located and what impact this has on how the brand shows up to consumers or guests.

These elements are really important. The devil is in the detail so make sure you brief in absolute detail to get the best outcome.

2. Full Immersion Into Brand Positioning

Brand strategy and positioning is authored in the boardroom but rarely does it reach the bartenders on the front line.

While a 50 page brand book is an extremely useful tool, just sharing this document with a bartender and thinking job done is an error.

Most bartenders will have a wide knowledge the drinks brand landscape and in most cases will have interacted with your brand personally or professionally.

What is key for activations is to play back your brand positioning and narrative to the bartenders in a way that gives clear understanding of the brands positioning.

Clarifying the brand comms hierarchy, where its sits in the market, who its target audience is and what competitors exist.

This will seem like overkill, but brand immersion is a vital step in getting your activation team well-prepared. Remember, they must be an extension of the brand team, so treat them as such.

And please don’t just send your board room brand book.

3. Hire bartenders Based On traits Not CV

This is an important point to put forward.

A gripe we have with the drinks industry is the obsession with the top 1% of the industry. By this, we mean brands focusing their advocacy or hiring towards the top 1% of bartenders in the industry. Those with the best CVs and personal brands.

Being represented by bartender influencers makes sense in certain circumstances but with consumer-focused activations you need to match bartenders by their traits, not their CV.

If a luxury brand needs to be represented, a refined, extremely well put together bartender with a considered communication style often fits the bill. If it’s a party brand then energy, infectiousness and magnetic communication style will do the job.

The point we are making is to make sure the personality matches the brand and activation objective. If you go on CV and profile alone you risk damaging how your brand shows up.

Conclusions

Brand teams and agencies must hire bartenders based on what fits the brand AND the activation objectives, as well as ensuring work is put into through brand training and immersion.

This is so important as when considering the approach for bartender hire, you must remember that is the conduit between brand and consumer – a vital cog in the brand perception machine.

What we do see too much of is the haphazard placement of bartenders who just don’t fit the brand positioning and are not right for the particular activation.

If you need assistance in bartender hire for events or activations then get in touch with our team.

To find our more check out bartender and mixologist hire.