Great experiential marketing examples are based on deep consumer insights, flawless activations, significant amplification, and relevant measurement. Portada interviewed Roberto Ramirez Laverde, Global Senior Vice President of BACARDÍ Rum, who provided insights about the recently launched BACARDÍ x Stadium Goods SNEAK3ASY campaign.
Roberto Ramirez Laverde, Global Senior Vice President of BACARDÍ Rum, recently rejoined Bacardi, having previously had a senior position at Mastercard. Based out of Bermuda, pending authorization by the Bermuda Department of Immigration, Ramirez Laverde reports to Global Chief Marketing Officer Ned Duggan and joins the Marketing Leadership Team. Ramirez Laverde provides insights into the BACARDÍ x Stadium Goods SNEAK3ASY campaign including its amplification, measurement, and results.
The Campaign
The official kickoff of BACARDÍ x Stadium Goods SNEAK3ASY experiential marketing campaign was on June 8 with a one-of-a-kind retail and party experience in New York City. Acting as a lead-in to the brand’s festival presence at Governor’s Ball, the event was a remix of classic speakeasy: a co-branded BACARDÍ x Stadium Goods sneaker store (with custom merchandise) in the front and a lively, Caribbean-inspired BACARDÍ party (with surprise musical guests).
Following the New York launch, the rhythm continue through the summer providing more great experiential marketing examples, including:
- A revitalized BACARDÍ summer festival season, starting with Governor’s Ball in NYC on June 9th and continuing through Lollapalooza (Chicago), Life is Beautiful (Las Vegas), Parookaville (Germany), Lowlands Festival (Netherlands), and more. Festivalgoers who visit the CASA BACARDÍ festival experience are treated to exceptional cocktail offerings, exclusive merch drops, and further chances to customize their Dancing Shoes NFT.
- The all-new BACARDÍ “Do What Moves You” Snap lens will first debut at the BACARDÍ® x Stadium Goods pop-up via Snap’s augmented reality mirror and will later be available to 21+ Snapchatters throughout the summer. This new-to-market technology, developed for BACARDÍ by Snap, features a custom augmented reality lens including a specially-commissioned music track, “Siéntelo” from the brand’s first-ever original EP, now available on Spotify, which will adapt based on users’ movements to create a wholly new rhythm that’s unique to you.
Great Experiential Marketing Examples: Consumer Insights
“We wanted to embed our brand in the consumers’ culture, and for that, we tapped into the passion points of music -music in Governors Ball- and of fashion -sneakers- and connect these passion points in a locally relevant way for New Yorkers,” says Ramirez Laverde. “Music and sounds are very relevant to connect with younger consumers. Younger generations often multitask over three screens and sound is a way of gaining their attention,” Ramirez Laverde emphasizes. In 2019, Bacardi launched the “Sound of Rhum”, a fusion of island bits and sounds with different genres worldwide which also can be listened to on Spotify.
Amplification and Scale Through Social
Experiential campaigns can have limited reach (e.g. the attendees of a music festival). That is why media is crucial to amplify and extend the reach. “We get the amplification and the scale of what we are doing through digital, mostly social media,” Ramirez Laverde notes. In the case of the BACARDÍ x Stadium Goods SNEAK3ASY campaign, influencers help to amplify and generate word of mouth. Bacardi also uses out-of-home as a reach extender. Social media partners are Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest and Twitter.
Great Experiential Marketing Examples: Measurement
The correct measurement of the impact of great experiential marketing examples (campaigns) can be challenging. According to Ramirez Laverde, Bacardi meets this challenge by measuring brand lift through an exit poll: “After the music festival, an exit poll is conducted to measure the relevance of the brand and other sponsors of the festival. “It’s critical to evaluate whether there is a lift in the way attendees experience Bacardi brands and understand how they are connected to them.”
Sales Lift is measured by the venue manager and provided to Bacardi and other festival partners. “How many cocktails we sell is also measured in terms of share of wallet versus other beverages from other sponsors as well as versus other events in the past.
“Experiential platforms such as the BACARDÍ x Stadium Goods SNEAK3ASY campaign provide a great connection between the consumer and the brand’s core,” says Ramirez Laverde. “It enables us to be a part of the consumer conversation,” he claims.
Results
Because Bacardi is a privately owned company, it cannot share specific sales data. However, a spokesperson at Bacardi tells Portada that “our average open rate of direct-to-consumer emails in this campaign launch was, nearly double the standard open rate. We’ve also seen a higher level of engagement on social posts from our campaign partners as compared to the average.” Bacardi attributes this positive outcome “to finding genuine partners in the community and working collaboratively with thought leaders in the space, in this case in the sneaker community, to create something that feels authentic to our target and introduces BACARDÍ’s brand ethos to a whole new audience.”
“I recently partnered with Bacardi to launch a customized sneaker that pairs with a digital asset twin (otherwise known as an NFT) and this was all launched in conjunction with NYC’s premier music festival – GovBall, This project perfectly aligns 3 deep passions I have: Music Culture. Sneaker Culture. And Web3, said Jeff Staple, president at visual communications agency Staple Design, in a LinkedIn post.
