Love Drinks
Company name: Love Drinks Ltd
Company description: Distribution & marketing of premium spirits & crafted ales
Industry sector: Beverages
Objectives
Love Drinks undertake marketing activity at shows such as Taste of Christmas and Taste of London to increase brand awareness, continuing to drive growth within the On Trade, and gaining awareness from the consumer for some of their key brands. The company has grown significantly in the last year, meaning they now have the capacity to attend more events, do more consumer tastings and host training sessions with bartenders. The focus is to provide great service across all the brands they represent, and deliver premium, quality products to customers.
Event Roll Out
Events are a key part of Love Drinks’ communication strategy to connect with consumers and trade, providing a valuable platform to showcase their brands and enable direct sales to the public. Events are selected on a case by case basis, evaluating footfall, and also who will be attending in terms of meeting the target demographic for the brand.
Love Drinks’ consider live events to have a number of additional benefits in supporting market research, selling directly to the public, connecting with the public, customer relations, and delivering the message about where specialist quality spirits and ales can be found.
Love Drinks say:
“People coming to Taste are looking for something special, often hand crafted presents that can’t be found in every supermarket. They like to ‘discover’ new brands, which is an important opportunity for us.”
Event Strategy
Initial plans are put in place about 4 months prior to the event. Stand design is taken care of in-house, and 3 members of staff will be at the show across the weekend to man the 3m x 3m stand.
At the event, sampling is a key activity as Love Drinks believe their products speak for themselves and drive purchasing. Data capture is also important as they are in the process of building their database to increase awareness via social media networks and to sustain brand awareness after the events.
In the run up to Taste, Love Drinks run competitions to win tickets to Taste and drinks prizes as a way to highlight their presence at the show, as well as promoting the event to Facebook and Twitter fans and followers.
Love Drinks invest a very large percentage of their overall budget in events – around 80%. Events are crucial to the marketing mix as a way to speak directly to customers. They would also like to combine this with further interactive marketing, TV advertising, outdoor advertising, print and direct mail to truly reap the rewards.
Results
Love Drinks are a repeat exhibitor of Taste as the events deliver great brand exposure to a high volume of foodies, as well as an opportunity to sell directly to the public. It is a great sampling opportunity, giving visitors the chance to discover new products and become customers. Taste gives Love Drinks the premium foodie audience with which the brand resonates, and as such, Taste shows are always a successful marketing tool for Love Drinks.