The advent of brand connection
’Tis the season for alcohol-filled advent calendars and other festive grown-up treats. It’s also a chance for brands to connect more deeply with consumers, says Sarah Miller...
I’m old enough to remember when advent calendars promised nothing more than a snowy scene behind each door, and the best you could hope to find in a cracker was a fortune-telling fish. And if chocolate baubles did exist back then, I certainly wasn’t allowed them!
Nowadays, chocolate is barely enough to placate preschoolers (or their parents), with calendars and crackers offering everything from popcorn and pork scratchings to lip balm and Lego. And, whether motivated by a sense of nostalgia or envy, there’s no shortage of boozy options to entertain us adults too.
Back in 2016, it was Edinburgh’s Pickering’s Gin who first filled Christmas baubles with booze and people could not get enough of them: the second, and final, batch sold out in just 82 seconds! Today boozy baubles are still popular – from fill-your-own to light-up gin liqueur versions – but the ubiquitous seasonal spin-off is the alcohol advent calendar. There are plenty for every palate – with beer, cocktails, wines and spirits – and every pocket, with prices ranging from £50 for 12 days of gin to £9,995 for 24 days of ‘Very Old and Rare Whisky’.
However, not all advent calendars are created equal.
“The ubiquitous seasonal spin-off is the alcohol advent calendar.”
I believe MOTH and Whitebox are among the best RTD cocktails in the UK, but neither of their calendars offer anything you can’t find on supermarket shelves the rest of the year. NIO, on the other hand, creates cocktails specifically for the festive season meaning their (admittedly pricier) calendar includes a limited edition Christmas Margarita with notes of spiced ginger and apple, and a mandarin and cinnamon Winter Sidecar.
While many branded calendars offer less variety and more duplication, O’Donnell Moonshine bucks the trend with two calendars that each contain something extra: the cheaper option includes one new flavour among its 24 x 20ml samples, while the more expensive calendar contains one 700ml limited edition Christmas liqueur as well as 50ml samples and exclusive merchandise.
Unless you’re a mega fan, the calendars containing a variety of brands usually offer better value, especially for anyone wanting to explore a category. The Spirit Co. sells a large selection, including bourbon, cognac, tequila and mezcal, many of which also include two glasses and expert tasting notes to elevate the experience. However the best (in my opinion) was the Ginvent calendar, which also happened to be the very first alcohol advent calendar launched.
“Ginvent” began its life in London’s Graphic Bar in 2011, where the (now sadly defunct) Gin Foundry team installed a 2m x 2m calendar containing 24 full- size bottles of gin that were opened for sampling and serving each day.
The following year this concept was miniaturised in collaboration with Drinks by the Dram. Today’s calendars are often bandwagon-jumping attempts to cash in while offloading excess stock, but Ginvent was about demonstrating the category’s depth and diversity as well as helping drinkers find their perfect tipple. Their calendars were carefully curated to include every style of gin as well as new and limited editions.
Ginvent was also designed to be a shared experience. In addition to publishing articles, tasting notes and suggested serves, Gin Foundry hosted wonderful live tastings on social media every evening. These online experiences not only connected brands with potential customers, but also built communities and saw many of us making mini Martinis and Negronis with our 30ml samples, long before tiny cocktails were trending!
While Gin Foundry’s approach was undoubtedly expensive and time- consuming, today’s cheaper but less ambitious calendars offer consumers considerably less value.
If brands and retailers were instead willing to use calendars as part of bigger campaigns, by investing in events and finding ways to continue the conversation into the New Year, they might just be rewarded with a new generation of loyal customers and even category ambassadors.
Sarah Miller is a UK-based spirits writer, judge and consultant.
ginadingding.com
