UK cider and beer business Heineken is bringing a touch of magic to a summer-long campaign for its premium tequila-flavoured lager Desperados.
It has teamed up with street magician Gerry Sims who is training other illusionists and magicians to perform up-close tricks alongside sampling of the beer at 900 pubs and bars across the UK.
He has worked with the Desperados team to create a range of magic tricks that reflect the brand, such as magically filling cups without any liquid and making cards appear inside Desperados bottles, encouraging interaction with customers.
The activity aims to drive trial and visibility in the on-trade from July to October, supported by point-of-sale materials. The latest items have an industrial theme and include hanging fridges and traffic lights as well as traditional bar runners, drip mats, T-shirts and posters.
The brand will also offer licensees social media toolkits to promote sampling events and drive footfall. The kits include short video clips to post onto the individual outlet’s own social networking sites and trail events to customers.
The latest partnership follows previous link-ups with graffiti artists and break-dancers and has been created to highlight Desperados’ contemporary character among drinkers aged 18 to 25.
As well as having a summer festivals presence, Desperados will launch an advertising campaign, including posters in areas close to key bars and with a high student footfall, to drive maximum awareness.
As one of the fastest-growing premium-packaged lager brands, Desperados saw its value sales increase by 58 per cent last year and is now worth over £53.4million, according to figures from on-trade research specialist CGA Strategy.
Andrew Turner, category and trade marketing director for the on-trade at Heineken, said: “Despite the rise in popularity of Desperados in recent years, our research shows us that consumers often have a barrier to the concept of tequila until they actually taste it.
“However once they have tried the product we see a fantastic rate of sale. Therefore, our mission is to engage consumers and highlight the unique taste profile of Desperados.
“Our latest sampling activity offers a unique premium brand experience and we are confident this will capture the attention of existing fans whilst recruiting new drinkers to the brand.”
He added that the latest activity would be focused on London as a key region but Heineken would be driving awareness across the country with a range of new initiatives and POS.
