#MarketingEventsAwards 2020 highlight: William Grant & Sons keeps Singaporeans' spirits up with first virtual bar

In this year’s MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’S Marketing Events Awards William Grant & Sons wowed the judges with its impressive strategy and execution. Along with AKA Asia, the team took home two golds for Best Event for a Targeted Community and Best Use of Hosting Platforms. It also raked in three silvers for Best Immersive Experience, best Press/Media event and Best Virtual Event (B2C) while claiming the bronze for Best Innovative Transition – Physical to virtual.

In Singapore, drinking is a largely social activity, with after-hours imbibing taking place at bars and restaurants. As an alcohol and spirits distributor, the success of William Grant & Sons business has always been highly dependent on its relationships with local dining establishments and watering holes, and a key tenet of its marketing strategies year on year has hinged on partnerships and promotions with these trade partners.

Challenges

With cocktail bars mandated to close overnight due to the implementation of COVID-19 circuit breaker measures, these institutions - once fundamental to the after-hours experience in Singapore, became peripheral.

Even before restrictions were put in place, many local watering holes - especially the tourist dependent ones - were already seeing a 15-25% dip in business as a result of travel restrictions and more Singaporeans opting to stay home.

Pivoting to e-commerce became the new standard as bars rushed to introduce delivery and takeaway menus, some more ahead of the curve than others. But the reality of the situation was that many, especially independently owned establishments, would not be able to ride out the storm and ran the risk of having to shutter their doors permanently.

Strategy

With the current climate in mind, the team sought out to create a campaign from April to June 2020 to ensure its brands remained top of mind in a time of limited socialising and venturing out of home, while also supporting the local bartending community through difficult times.

Objectives:

1. Give local bars affected by the closures a way to remain “open” to consumers
2. Provide a platform for William Grant & Sons to give back to the local bartending community
3. Maintain brand presence of core portfolio –The Balvenie, Glenfiddich, Hendrick’s Gin and Monkey Shoulder campaign

The team’s strategy was to find a way to orchestrate a meeting point between the needs of the establishments and audience’s headspace in this new normal, in a way that William Grant & Sons could add real value.

Beyond demonstrating support in spirit, William Grant & Sons also needed to provide immediate tangible support to help our partners tide through this challenging period.

As Singaporeans started to spend more time at home as a result of work-from-home mandates and closures of entertainment establishments, they turned to online platforms to fill the gap of these face-to-face interactions. William Grant & Sons, early in its planning process, identified customers’ new needs in a new environment and distilled it to the following key themes – well-being, entertainment, inspiration, learning and security.

Moreover, William Grant & Sons wanted to continue to celebrate talents in the scene and find new ways for fans to experience watching their drink prepared by their favourite bartenders featuring WGS spirits.

The 1887 Virtual Bar was created as brands and consumers turned to virtual experiences to try and replicate or replace the missed physical connections. The 1887 Virtual Bar, Singapore’s first ever virtual bar, doubled as a fundraiser.  Each 1887 Virtual Bar session would feature a local bar and their owner/bartender, offering a special set of four cocktails made with WGS products, which consumers could purchase in the form of digital cocktail vouchers to be redeemed when the bars opened again.

Execution

Eponymously named after the year William Grant & Sons was founded, the 1887 Virtual Bar was created to lend support to local bars affected by circuit breaker closures by giving them a way to remain ‘open’. The 1887 Virtual Bar ‘opened’ its doors on 9 April, just three days after circuit breaker measures came into force, and brought the quintessential cocktail bar experience online via the video conferencing platform, Zoom.

Through weekly guest shifts, consumers were able to log on once a week to join their favourite bartenders from local watering holes for a tipple, and watch as they shake up signature cocktails made with WGS spirits. The sessions were hosted by regional brand ambassadors Brett Bayly and Charmaine Thio, who served as moderators of the hour-long session.

With the two facilitating the conversations with their industry peers, the bartenders got to share their life stories, chat more about their signature drinks and inspirations - much like they would in an actual bar.

Each guest shift was accompanied by a thematic menu from which consumers could make virtual donations by purchasing digital cocktail vouchers at SG$20 each in support of their favourite watering holes. Standing in solidarity with the local bartending community, WGS matched donations dollar-for-dollar, up to S$1,000 per week.

Prior to the inaugural guest shift, the team put together #StayHome survival kits containing everything they needed to mix up their own cocktails from the comfort of their homes. The kits highlighted the breadth of its offerings, featuring miniatures from key brands, along with mixers, garnishes and recipe cards. The #StayHome kits were distributed each week to different media and KOLs, who helped to drive awareness among consumers across Singapore, encouraging them to join in for a virtual tipple in support of the local bartending community.

By tapping on media and KOLs who were strong advocates of local F&B businesses, William Grant & Sons were able to achieve a 100% success rate, with every kit recipient putting up an article and/or social media post to share about the 1887 Virtual Bar. The efforts were also amplified through event listings and regular press engagements such as media releases at launch and midway through the campaign to update on the amount raised so far.

William Grant & Sons also pitched media interviews with its regional brand ambassadors to communicate deeper messages around the importance of supporting our local bartending community as they weather this storm.

As lockdowns started to become a norm across the globe, William Grant & Sons noticed an increase in regional audiences at its Singapore-based 1887 Virtual Bar sessions. Following the success of the Singapore 1887 Virtual Bar, the team decided to replicate the 1887 Virtual Bar experience in Malaysia and subsequently the Philippines. Partner bars and bartenders were equally supportive of the experience, and quickly came on board to take on the virtual guest shifts.

Results

Over the course of two months, the 1887 Virtual Bar has shaken and stirred its way into over 2,000 consumers homes during lockdown, selling over 730 cocktails and raising close to S$30,000 through its 18 virtual guest shifts for the local bartending communities.

The 1887 Virtual Bar also made its waves on social media, reaching almost 12 million eyeballs, generating nearly 200,000 impressions, exceeding engagement rate standards at 2.31%, especially for a newly created social account with only 39 posts.

A simple activation rooted in deep insight and filled with plenty of heart resonated not only with consumers but with media and KOLs as well, generating over SG$2 million in PR value and 63 million reach, resulting in an ROI of 94 times.

From the get go, the 1887 Virtual Bar generated positive word-of-mouth amongst influential figures, and increased brand top-of-mind awareness amongst trade and consumers.

This then saw the 1887 Virtual Bar experience expanding on to Grab, allowing consumers to purchase spirits on demand so they can shake up a cocktail to enjoy while tuning in or even try their hand at recreating the cocktails shown by the guest bartenders.