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A few months ago, at the Spanish offices of Suntory Beverage where I served as its European CMO, I was presented with a brilliant activation for our Schweppes brand.
It was one that would teach me an important lesson.
Our team had created some eye-popping bar takeovers in venues across Spain, with bright yellow lounge furniture, outfits for bar mixologists, Jacob Schweppes paintings—a whole Instagrammable set.
It was spectacular. It created that warm, intoxicating feeling every marketer secretly chases. Schweppes was showing up as the most dominant, visible brand precisely where our drinks were sold.
Then, the CFO asked the only question that matters for a mass brand: Could we take it from a couple of showcase venues to hundreds of bars next year? Can we scale this?
That’s when the spell broke.
My team had been inspired by another Suntory brand: the elegant Japanese gin Roku.
Roku is premium by design, the kind of brand that should be flaunted on terraces in a cherry-blossom spectacle. As such, Roku had brand activations to match.
My soft drink team observed Roku’s takeovers with envy. Schweppes existed in the very same bars, linked literally by gin and tonics. We worked with the same bar owners, were served by the same bartenders, and were consumed by the same customers.
