
Pink Your Senses
Pernod Ricard
Issue 50 | March 2019
Agency
Impero Creative
Creative Team
Creative director: Michael Scantlebury Creative: Melissa McWhirter
Production Team
Design director: Adeline Chong Senior designer: Davide Baratta Midweight designer: Lise Dessons, Andres Clerc Director of photography: Paul Lewis
Other Credits
Strategy director: Dan Deeks Osburn Senior account director: Lauren McGregor Account manager: Patricia Cascales García Project manager: Sophie Ewings Location-based marketing specialists: Posterscope UK Out of Home media owner: Exterion Media Media agency: Havas Media
Date
May 2018
Background
In a TFL first, Impero (in partnership with Havas and Exterion Media) gave the hot commuters of Oxford Circus station some refreshing drink-spiration for the launch of Beefeater Pink Gin. Using innovative printing technology, the first-ever scented underground station domination was created, delighting commuters with the smell of wild strawberries and drumming up desire for the new pink gin.
Idea
The summer of 2018 was set to be a scorcher. Londoners were hot, sweaty, and thirsty. And in no place were people hotter, sweatier and more desperate for a drink, than on the London Underground. Reaching an average temperature of 30ºc over the summer months, London’s tube lines were full of thirsty commuters – all seeking refreshment from their stagnant surroundings, and refuge from packed carriages. So, to position Beefeater Pink as the hottest serve of the summer, it was launched in the hottest location in town – literally – and refreshed Londoners and tourists with some Pink drinkspiration.
Data-mapping identified Oxford Circus as the location with the highest footfall of the target audience – and, even better, it was close to the bars of Soho, allowing them to reach consumers just before they bought.
Consumers were hit with an onslaught of Pink they couldn’t ignore, with a complete station takeover. Vibrant pink visuals broke through the grey of the underground, and refreshing cocktails tempted hot commuters as they made their way up and out of the sweaty station. But the objective was to take it further than just a poster campaign - creating an experience that was unique, unexpected and truly memorable. So the idea was to capitalise on the confined space of the underground to tap into a second sense. A sense strongly linked to memory, and the next best thing to taste: smell. By infusing the posters with scented ink, Oxford Circus station was filled with the smell of wild strawberries, creating TFL’s FIRST-EVER scented underground campaign. Consumers not only saw their pink gin – they could smell it. The campaign took tube travellers on a sensory journey through the station, via four strawberry-scented corridors and a vinyl-wrapped escalator with escalator panels – triggering their tastebuds, and putting Beefeater Pink front-of-mind just before they hit the bars.
Results
The pink posters delivered the sweet smell of success, achieving a +6% increase in awareness and +7% increase in consideration over the two-week campaign — that’s over 3x the campaign target. Beefeater Pink experienced +102% sales growth over the campaign vs. targets, and is currently outselling Beefeater London Dry 4 to 1, making it the most successful NPD launch (by volume) in the company’s 40-year history. Selling 3.6 million bottles.
Pink Your Senses is one of the highlights of Impero’s work as lead global creative agency for Beefeater over the past 24 months – taking the brand from 0% growth to more than 12%.
The sweet smell of success, indeed.