The longer days, sunshine, and warmth of the summer months make this the perfect season to offer engaging and unique activations to consumers. Here at Wonderworks, we understand the importance for drinks brands to connect with their target audience, enhance brand awareness and foster brand loyalty by making the most of summer activation opportunities.

Outlined below, our top tips for building out a successful drinks brand activation.

The Customer Journey

To create a memorable and immersive experience, outlining the customer journey is crucial in guiding your audience through a series of key touchpoints. Our advice for creating an effective roadmap is to define a clear purpose: In what are you inviting customers to participate / what are you offering them? When Aperol Spritz activated at the Battersea Power Station with their ‘Italian Aperitivo’, their purpose was to give “Londoners a reason to say salute! to the summer and enjoy an impromptu Aperol Spritz with friends”.

Branded Display

These summer events are experiential in nature and a great opportunity to invite consumers to escape into your brand world. A great example is Veuve Clicquot’s 250th Anniversary Exhibition Pop-Up in Piccadilly and their Sunny Side Up Café. They put together an immersive time capsule that led consumers to a limited time only Café where they could sit down and enjoy some lunch and Champagne. From the colour palette to the branding on the stem of the wine glass, to the bouquets of sunflowers and vintage Parisian prints, the Veuve Clicquot team developed a suite of assets tying back to different brand elements, all working together to transport visitors into Veuve Cliquot’s brand world.

Supporting Assets

Whatever your activation goals (educational or fun), supporting assets are fundamental to a successful event. Hardworking supporting assets will have your customers engaged, helping you to achieve your desired activation purpose. The Maison Mirabeau team did a great job with their ‘Spin to Win’ Wheel at the Taste of London 2023 festival. Their leading asset was imposing, of high-quality and distinctive, attracting customer attention and leading people to enter the brand’s activation.

Partnerships

Partnerships are a popular avenue and beneficial to both brands. Whether teaming up to create a venue or to combine budgets, partnerships often lead to one-of-a-kind experiences. Earlier this summer, Aperol Spritz and NUGS joined forces to set up a limited-time only pop-up in King’s Cross.

Takeaways 

Whether it be an educational session, a cocktail masterclass, or an outdoor pop-up in the city, your attendees should never leave empty-handed. If you’re hosting an activation with a purpose to inform, cocktail recipe cards and brand booklets are a great to hand-out. For interactive cocktail masterclasses, giftbags with branded goodies are always a great success (and less likely to get thrown away!). For example, Tanqueray hosted a consumer-facing masterclass activation at the Bow’s Tavern in Covent Garden where attendees were gifted the following: A fever-tree tonic water, a Tanqueray London Dry gin sample bottle, a Tanqueray T-shirt, and a Tanqueray apron.

At Wonderworks, we're passionate about driving brand loyalty and awareness through well-crafted activations. Our brand strategy team is here to share more insights and explore how we can elevate your drink brand's approach to advocacy and education. Whether it's crafting educational sessions, hosting cocktail masterclasses, or organizing outdoor pop-ups, we're here to help create meaningful connections between your brand and your audience.

Let's work together to make your next summer brand activation a resounding success!