Seedlip is the world's first non-alcoholic distilled spirit. Seedlip is on a mission to change the way the world drinks with the highest quality non-alcoholic options. There are three unique & complex blends: Spice 94, Garden 108 & Grove 42 that can be simply served with tonic or mixed to create sophisticated non-alcoholic cocktails.
My Team
Andrea Baez - Director of Research and Intelligence
Raymond Sein - Director of Strategy
Penelope Herrera - PR Strategist
John Holliday-Stewart - PR Tactician
Jose Garcia - Comms Strategist
Carlos Matias - Copywriter
Ekaterina Mochalova - Creative Strategist
Melissa Orr - Creative Director
Seedlip Client
Jason Chebib - VP Consumer Planning
Kristina Knight - Senior Innovation Manager
Olivia Kupfer - Senior Brand
Manager
Competitive Pitch | $5 million Campaign Budget | One-Year Rollout | Five-Year Plan
Diageo came to us and tasked us with the following challenges:
Get People to Buy Bottles for Home and Order Seedlip When They're Out
What We Learned
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Non-alcoholic beer and wine global market forecasted to reach $30 billion by 2025–the category is growing.
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+200% growth of non-alcoholic cocktail offerings on menus–off-premise demand is growing.
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Google search trends for "Non-Alcoholic Drink" have steadily increased from January 2014 to May 2020–consumer interest is growing.
What We Learned
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We targeted non-conformists. If we wanted Seedlip to lead the non-alcohlic spirits category, then we needed to speak to leaders, not followers.
Realizations
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Seedlip is lost in the crowd of its competitors who sell push their functional qualities
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Must switch Seedlip's Brand positioning from functional to emotional for it to grow and thrive in its own space
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Sober curious is a problematic trend that will do more harm than good to Seedlip
Strategy
We got people to stop justifying why they're not drinking by taking a stand against moderation being turned into something trendy.
Integrated Marketing Campaign
We decided to show people just how serious we were about bringing down the Sober curious trend and emphasizing that you can drink Seedlip whenever with our multi-phased campaign, "Kill Sober Curious."
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Multi-Phased Campaign Rollout
Pre-Campaign: Flood
What: We are flooding the market with Seedlip, in person in stores and venues and also on line for our consumers and shoppers. We worked with distribution and retailers for in store merchandise and hired influencers to spread the word and host New Years Eve parties.
Why: We increased mental and physical availability to this extreme degree to make stake holders aware of Seedlip and to sell the product.
Phase 1: Blackout
What: On midnight at the New Years Eve events, Seedlip will go dark. Seedlip will be completely unavailable for the first two weeks of January. This is the launch of our new campaign, "Seedlip–Drink it Whenever. Except Dry January." We pulled Seedlip from all the places it used to be during the Flood.
Why: We are engineering false scarcity to disassociate Seedlip with the Sober Curious trend during Dry January and create a want and need for Seedlip.
Phase 2: Whenever
What: This is where we introduce our final campaign, "Seedlip–Drink it Whenever." During mid-January is when most people lose their "sober curiosity" and begin drinking again. For the rest of January the conversation will continue online by calling out those who broke their Dry January plans. For the remainder of the campaign, Seedlip will host it's own YouTube series, the Seedlip truck will tour the country, and bartenders will host a masterclass during happy hour.
Why: During this phase we are bringing Seedlip back, nationwide, at all times of the year emphasizing that Seedlip can be enjoyed whenever and in moderation.
A look into the process
Behind the Scenes
Gather
I understood
I researched past capstones because as it turns out Diageo was a client.
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The winners of Bailey's Almande pitch won with a multi-phased campaign prompting consumers engagement to redesign the product packaging
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The winners of Naked Turtle White Rum pitch won by breaking through the clutter of an oversaturated market by showcasing consumer values.
I explored the client and understood their area of expertise within the Diageo organization.
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Olivia Kupfer, Senior Brand Manager at Diageo, would be checking that we maintained the brand's integrity at all stages
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Kristina Knight, Senior Innovation Manager, would be looking for our ability to generate a big idea and ensure tactical delivery.
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Jason Chebib, VP of consumer planning, would be looking for an original insight that would give us an upper hand in understanding the consumer
I heard
Jason happened to have come to campus to deliver an @BIC lecture
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Marketing is a way to speed up the process for getting things around the world.
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Don't narrowly target a key group of people while ignoring the rest.
Briefing may be only form of contact with client
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Educate how to use and drink product
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Most people who drink are not looking to stop drinking completely; #sobercurious trending
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Combine mental and physical availability
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Prove to Diageo that we are the right people to work with by making them feel something
Want
Create a launch campaign in the US to get Seedlip to the next level by accelerate growth of brand and growing their share of the market
Need
Innovate the non-alcoholic spirits category by creating a campaign that would make Seedlip the leader.
Unearth
Discover the gems
Sober Curiosity trend would drive people away
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It can be offensive for those struggling with real addiction or in recovery, encourages binge-drinking and co-opts elements of true sobriety.
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It co-opts the language around bi-curious, sexual orientation.
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This trend reflects a desire for sobriety, not moderation.
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People are still drinking, but they want to drink less.
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This trend doesn’t lead to long-term change in behavior.
Our brilliant strategist and gifted researcher uncovered the ALL there was to know about sober curiosity…
Assess
I evaluated
Our research was compelling. Our campaign risky. But the two didn't connect.
We needed to set up why sober curiosity is Seedlip's enemy.
We reworked the upfront to form a clear
and direct line to our campaign.
Facts and data points about drinking, alcohol, and the non-alcoholic category
Show how the trend of sober curiosity is detrimental to Seedlip's brand
Break down how uncool being trendy is and instead appeal to people's emotions.
Knowing the Brand Better Than They Know Themselves
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Help client establish norms for a new category
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Shift the focus from functional benefits to emotional ones
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Break patterns already emerging in this space with disruptive thinking
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Demonstrate why over-aligning with Dry January and similar trends would limit growth
The brand catalyst in me
Spotted the growth potential through disruption. We delivered client buy-in by providing support! By demonstrating a smart rationale with supportable evidence, our team was able to push the client out of its comfort zone. In positioning Seedlip as an “anti-trend" leader in a new category, we not only validated Diageo's acquisition of the product, but reinforced Diageo’s own brand value of innovation.
This is how we won the pitch!
Conducting a Post Mortem
We diagnosed our project and came to the following conclusions.
TEAM
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Overall performance and morale boosting
Illicit feeling in the client
Qualitative research
WHAT WE’D DO DIFFERENTLY
Choose different influencers
A well thought out distribution partnership strategy
In depth internal comms strategy
ACTIONABLE
TAKEAWAYS
Be a boundary pusher and don't be a afraid to give them ideas
Go all out and support boldness
Establish authority in the space we are owning