COURVOISIER - WELCOME TO THE GALA

Sparking Moments of Wonder with The Courvoisier Gala

As a creative marketing agency specialising in drinks, we understand the importance of a serve strategy and its ability to deliver results while creating lasting memories and moments of connection for consumers. The power of a serve holds the opportunity to tell a story, evoke desire, and invite people to bring the brand to their daily lives.

Global 360 Campaign | Digital | On-trade | Off-trade

The Challenge

Welcome drinkers with our hero serve – The Courvoisier Gala

The Courvoisier team challenged us to build a global multi-channel campaign for its hero serve, The Courvoisier Gala, offering consumers a gateway into the joyful world of Courvoisier and giving a historic cocktail a fresh lease of life.

The objective was simple: to turn a relatively unfamiliar drink into the go-to cocktail of the summer by connecting with a new, younger audience of cognac drinkers during key daytime drinking moments and occasions.

We sparked wonder by delivering a comprehensive 360 communications strategy that embraced Courvoisier’s spirit of joie de vivre.

THE INSIGHT

A simple and consistent message

Welcome to The Gala – Courvoisier Cognac & Sparkling Lemon – a simple yet sophisticated serve, both visually stunning and delicious to drink. 

THE APPROACH

Connect with the key occasions when The Courvoisier Gala can shine

The Courvoisier Gala cocktail celebrates lighter, brighter, daytime moments with friends. Our campaign focused on three quintessential occasions – brunch, picnic and ‘golden hour’ – each beautiful occasion showcased in our creative executions. Scenarios were brought to life through stunning visuals to highlight how The Courvoisier Gala elevates warm, sociable moments.

Create an ownable and distinctive serve ritual  

The Courvoisier Gala serve experience was elevated with elegant touches that consistently signposted the drink itself. Premium glassware and a vibrant lemon twist as a garnish added a playful yet effortless dash of French flair to every cocktail – a simple ritual supported by on- and off-trade assets, digital content, and education tools.

Drive desire through joyful and bold key visual style

Wonderworks defined the creative approach and vision of the campaign. We then enlisted the support of freelance fashion photographer and Vogue favourite, Ollie Ali, to capture a variety of stills and videos that became the hero assets of our campaign. By jetting to the sunny landscapes of Cape Town, we were able to bring this bright summer cocktail to life.

We also captured a series of Serve and Lifestyle videos designed to inspire and educate consumers on how to craft The Courvoisier Gala to perfection at home. These videos became featured content across social channels throughout the campaign to generate global reach.

Our campaign was supported by a media spend in the UK that allowed it to be featured on buses, billboards and digital throughout the summer season.

 Brought to life with hard-working cross-channel assets  

We welcomed on-trade consumers into the world of Courvoisier through terrace takeovers throughout the summer. Premium events showcased The Courvoisier Gala with live music, sharing platters and lemon treats, encouraging moments to mix and mingle in a convivial space and to create lasting moments with friends.

In the off-trade, we created standout on-shelf POS alongside bold retail assets communicating The Courvoisier Gala cocktail and how simple it was to make at home. Supported by sampling opportunities and links to QR codes on menus, our campaign focused on recruiting new drinkers to Courvoisier via this delicious serve. 

The Wonder

The “Welcome to The Gala” campaign demonstrated exceptional performance across all touchpoints, surpassing set targets and proving its effectiveness in converting UK shoppers into new Courvoisier customers. The campaign's comprehensive strategy resulted in a remarkable increase in brand consideration by an impressive 20% in the UK market.

 Mass Awareness Generated by Out of Home Presence

 The OOH component played a pivotal role in driving mass awareness in the UK, exceeding expectations with a staggering 18 million impressions, marking a remarkable 57% increase over set targets, and delivering 45.8 million impacts across 34 days.

Reaching a New Generation of Cognac Drinkers Through Digital 

We successfully engaged with a broad audience through social media and digital channels, delivering a substantial 26 million impressions in the UK to a diverse audience of 6.5 million consumers. Notably, the campaign achieved its strongest impressions and link clicks with the coveted 25-34 year old market, highlighting its effectiveness in targeting and resonating with a new, younger generation of consumers.

 A Category Defining Impact

 “Welcome to The Gala” surpassed its original targets, delivering outstanding results across all platforms. It established a new paradigm for Courvoisier within the cognac category globally, successfully converting shoppers into loyal customers and solidifying its place within the premium spirits market.