“Having sticky opportunities to create a bit of social buzz and earned awareness is going to be equally as important as having the right sort of reach-based media plans and having in-real-life as part of the media mix because this category is all about being out and about and experiencing the summer. Pop-ups, I think, are a great manifestation of that, particularly in New York.”
-Nikhil Shah, Brand Director, Loyal 9 Cocktails
Being stuck in an office on a sunny summer day can be a major bummer. Rather than staring at a computer screen or working under fluorescent lighting, many consumers wish they could be poolside with a cocktail in hand. And that’s the feeling Loyal 9 Cocktails aimed to capture with its recent pop-up event in New York City. Disguised under the code name “Jury Duty,” the one-day-only party on Friday, June 9, offered consumers a cheeky yet believable excuse to block off their calendars for the afternoon and kick off their weekend early.
Once they RSVP’d and dipped out of work, consumers headed to the lemon-themed, multistory Loyal pop-up bar on the Lower East Side, where they were greeted by a summery blue-and-yellow color palette and plenty of out-of-office messaging, including a neon sign that read: “It’s your duty to enjoy summer.” Pumped up with beats by none other than DJ Out of Office, about 250 participants tried the brand’s canned vodka lemonade cocktails, including lemonade + iced tea, watermelon lemonade, mixed berry lemonade and classic margarita, a new flavor. They also enjoyed a photo booth with a lighted lemon-branded backdrop and handheld signs, as well as a rooftop terrace with Jenga games and seating adorned with colorful, fuzzy and lemon-detailed pillows.
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“We are a new brand; we don’t have the star power yet. So it was just making sure that we curated this in the best way possible with a unique idea. This ‘Jury Duty’ idea was absolutely critical to sort of supplement the fact that we have lower awareness as a brand and drive a little bit of novelty,” says Nikhil Shah, brand director at Loyal 9 Cocktails, which launched nationally 14 months ago. “Our overall brand objective, for me personally, is it’s bold, it’s audacious, but you need to throw it out there. Ultimately, I want this brand to be associated as the drink of the summer.”
Part of the brand’s “Less Less. More More.” campaign, the pop-up event emphasized how consumers should do more of the things they want to do and less of the mundane things they don’t. Shah says it was important to host the pop-up toward the beginning of summer to remind attendees to take time for themselves and not let the season slip away, especially as more companies are building flexible summer schedules into their workweeks from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The event tapped into the popularity of summer Fridays, in which employees get a partial or full day off at the end of the week, with its timing starting at 2 p.m. and “Loyal to Summer Fridays” signage around the bar and photo booth.
Attendees could partake in a lemon-themed photo op featuring handheld signs, like “Loyal to Summer Fridays.”
“We’re still sort of on that learning path, but this event was a great opportunity to show how we can be bold and very forward with how we represent the brand, but not so in your face,” Shah says. “Just being very fun with the fruits and the color palette, but not having to slap the logo everywhere, making sure it felt more lively, airy, fruity versus overly brand forward. You want to do it in a balanced way.”
Loyal 9 Cocktails opened registration 15 days before the event and saw so many signups that it had to cut off bookings in advance. The brand promoted the event through targeted social media in the New York region and brought in loyal fans to spread the word. Shah notes that attendees used the pop-up as a meeting spot to hang out with colleagues and friends, and many stayed for upwards of two hours.
“Adding a personality and a view that is truly your own is going to be absolutely necessary to have longevity in this market. Otherwise, you’re just going to get washed over from the natural churn,” he says. “Having sticky opportunities to create a bit of social buzz and earned awareness is going to be equally as important as having the right sort of reach-based media plans and having in-real-life as part of the media mix because this category is all about being out and about and experiencing the summer. Pop-ups, I think, are a great manifestation of that, particularly in New York.” Agencies: No Fixed Address; starpower; Taylor; Wheelhouse.
More Scenes from the Jury Duty Pop-up:
Photo credit: Getty Images/Dave Kotinsky for Loyal 9
