Pernod Ricard & Marriott International

Secret Gin Society

Ignite found a creative way to tap into #WorldGinDay; creating the most exclusive Gin lifestyle platform in Europe and delivering one of the most successful campaigns ever run by Pernod & Marriott.

• Advertising Campaign

• Digital Marketing

• Websites

• Branding & Strategy

• Games & Tech

• Design & Animation

The best thing about secrets is... sharing them.

The idea underpinning the Secret Gin Society was simple: a place for gin lovers to access hidden cocktails and exclusive events at some of Europe’s most incredible bars. Speakeasies (secretive prohibition era drinking establishments) helped inspire both a concept and visual language built around pass-phrases and codebreaking.

Welcome to the club

Built, with the intention of emulating a private members’ club, thesecretginsociety.com sat behind a gated “apply to join” page. Guests would be invited to input their details in exchange for access to a list of participating bars, each serving a limited-time-only secret Gin menu. Thus helping reinforce the feeling of exclusivity.

Big ideas need a smart approach

Creating a new lifestyle brand requires a heavy focus on the content strategy. Leveraging 200 of the participating bars social accounts we were able to tap into their audience and promote our own Secret Gin Society brand. This had the advantage of building authority at both brand and local level. The Secret Gin Society is now a creative and knowledgable hub, with a vibrant and growing community. Overall results were staggering: 200 locations across 10 core cities experienced a 35% Sales uplift.

Digital becomes physical

One of the key elements that made this continent wide campaign such a success was it's implementation at location level. We bridged the gap between online advertising and offline implementation using the 'crack the code' element. Special menus created for the occasion included hidden codes, which could only be cracked using the cipher ring printed on the coasters (a trick alluded too through the social content). This added a further level of gamification to the campaign and captured the interest of participants.

What’s next: 2020 vision & beyond

The campaign primarily drove revenue and awareness to venues, but it's also enabled Secret Gin Society to become an established, stand alone brand. SGS is being rolled out to several
continents, with multiple activations each year. The first of which was World Gin Week. In an ever changing climate, we decided to adapt. Strategy was shifted and, using our platform, we hosted and curated a 7 day, online event. This featured Influencer Instagram takeovers, live mixology classes, interactive Q&As and the ability to travel the world through gin.

6.5%

engagement rate

19%

Website Conversion Rate

35%

Sales uplift across all locations

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