Drink It Whenever
The Client Brief
Create a launch campaign in the US market to help Seedlip win the quickly growing non-alcoholic spirit category.
Non-alcoholic spirits is a growing category with no clear market leader.
There’s a demand in the market
Forecasted to be a $30-billion category by 2025
Menus are featuring more non-alcoholic drinks year-over-year
Google searches for “non-alcoholic” is up 80% since 2018
We have a well-designed product
A crafted, premium alternative to alcohol
Distilled from high-quality ingredients using a time-tested process
Used in non-alcoholic cocktails, not mocktails
Served in the world’s top cocktail bars and Michelin-rated restaurants
Contains no sugars or sweeteners
But there is a challenge
The category is getting crowded.
More non-alcoholic products are being introduced, but every brand looks the same.
Our biggest threat isn’t a competitor,
it’s getting lost in the crowd.
We need to stand out.
01
When every brand:
Focuses on functional benefits and rational qualities
Seedlip can:
Appeal to emotions
We found a competitive white space.
Every competitor’s brand messaging echoed functional benefits. Seedlip has an opportunity to use an emotional approach to stand apart.
Seedlip’s positioning limits their growth
Seedlip’s current positioning
“What to drink when you’re not drinking”
Tied Seedlip to drinking occasions and locations.
Made Seedlip a seasonal product that was only relevant during Dry January and post-holiday months.
Limited Seedlip to functional attributes like zero-proof, flavors, and distillation process.
Opportunity to position around emotions
While every zero-proof brand positions themselves around the benefits of not drinking alcohol, we can position Seedlip as the brand that supports people who are tired of justifying why they’re not drinking.
02
When every brand:
Jumps on the “Sober Curious” trend and #DryJanuary
Seedlip can:
End the need to hide moderation behind a trend
Sobriety turns trendy
When we looked into the “Sober Curious” trend, we realized that it was turning into another health & wellness trend. Like people’s sudden glutten-allergies and memberships to Crossfit boxes, we knew that attaching the brand too closely to something trendy would end up in eye-rolls once the trend dies out.
(Well said, Sean.)
We found our tension.
Cultural and behavioral shifts become trends, but people lose interest when it becomes too trendy. Marketing non-alcoholic spirits and moderation using the “Sober Curious” trend will push people away.
The Insight
“Trendy is the enemy of cool.”
What If
Seedlip takes a stand against moderation being turned into something trendy.
So we set out to
Kill Sober Curiosity
Taking a 3-phased approach
Pre-campaign phase
Goal: Increase visibility
Flood
October - December
We’ll flood the market with Seedlip, so people can’t escape it. Everywhere you look, Seedlip would be. We’ll get marketing materials into bars, OOH, and digital. We’ll work with distribution to get more bottles and in-store merchandise into their existing retailers. Our influencers would build buzz across different media outlets. People won’t be able to get away from it.
We’ll close out the year by hosting New Years Eve parties in LA and NY.
Campaign Launch Phase
Goal: Create scarcity
Blackout
Early - Mid January
At exactly midnight, once #DryJanuary—when people are most interested in Sober Curiosty—starts, Seedlip will go completely dark. We’re going to take Seedlip out of stores, we’re pulling our online inventory, and all of our communications will tell our followers that Seedlip isn’t taking part in #DryJanuary. We’re going to push back against the trend that moderation and a booze-free lifestyle is seasonal. We’re going to make it clear that Seedlip should be a drink for any time of the year, not just when people are in the “New Year, New Me” mindset.
This will be the official launch of Seedlip’s new campaign, “Drink it Whenever. Except Dry January”.
Site banners
Social content
Wild postings
Retail displays
Bar signage
In-store displays
Influencer coverage
Sustain phase
Goal: Promote moderation
Whenever
Mid January - December
After 2-weeks of the Blackout phase, Seedlip will move into the Whenever phase of the campaign. The goal of this phase is to reinforce the message that Seedlip is a drink for whenever. We will use evergreen social content, OOH ads, a video content series, and digital activations to spread the message. We’ll also roll out a Bartender Partnership Program with the goal of teaching bartenders about ways to serve Seedlip.
To sum it up
We asked Diageo to:
Shift their long-term priorities.
From
“What to drink when
you’re not drinking”
To
“No apologies when
you’re not drinking”
Fight against a growing trend.
From
Focus on competing
during Dry January
To
Winning the “whenever” moments
every other day of the year
Take a risk and defy conventions.
When the category
Appeals to rationality
Promotes Dry January
Jumps on a trend
Seedlip will
Appeal to emotions
Normalize everyday moderation
Build a long-term brand
But Diageo wasn’t convinced this would work — for many reasons.
Here are a few of my favorites:
“It’s crazy to pull our product during the busiest sales month.”
“Why work so hard against a trend when you could just go with it?”
“This feels like an attempt to go viral. It’s not going viral.”
Ok, they brought up some good points.
Despite their doubts, Diageo saw the payoff in taking a risk to stand out from the competition and the potential of a team that would push them.
And awarded us the win.
The Team
Melissa Orr - Creative Director | Copy
Carlos Matias - Copywriter
Katie Mochalova - Designer | Creative Strategist
Natasha Khemraj - Account & Project Manager
Andrea Baez - Research & Intelligence Analyst
Jose Garcia - Media Strategist
Penelope Herrera - PR Strategist
John Holliday-Stewart - PR Tactician
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