Bombay Sapphire’s brand director Jamie Keller details the campaigns and sponsorships the brand is using to ignite sales on the under-consumed spirit.
Bombay Sapphire’s brand director Jamie Keller is working to “break the taste barrier” for gin in the U.S. Although growing in market share, gin only captures 3% of the spirit market in the U.S., which is relatively low, Keller said.
From market research it fielded in January 2024, it knows that U.S. consumers may not know how to consume gin and the category lacked relevance for consumers, Keller said.
“When we spoke to consumers, one of the biggest barriers to break with consumers was a taste perception profile,” Keller said. “And therefore, we had done a lot of work and looked at the different types of serves that consumers are interested in and resonate for consumers.”
In response to its research, in June 2024 the brand began marketing a cocktail to use with its gin, called the Bombay Sapphire Sparkling Lemon, which mixes its gin with lemonade and club soda. The drink has provided an excellent entry way into the gin category, Keller said.
“From a performance standpoint, we are starting to see some of our brand health metrics tick up,” Keller said. “We are seeing an increase in first time trial, and we are seeing some of our more emotive brand health scores like, ‘makes great tasting drinks,’ continue to improve.”
What’s more, Bombay Sapphire recently debuted a new marketing campaign dubbed, “Step into the Blue.” Plus, it is sponsoring more culturally focused events including Met Gala after parties and the electric boat racing E1 Series.
Keller sat down with Multichannel Marketer to dig more into the details about its marketing initiatives:
Multichannel Marketer: For an event like the Met Gala afterparties, what is the goal?
Keller: One of the biggest focuses that Bombay Sapphire has for the foreseeable future is really about shifting perceptions of gin. For consumers in the U.S., gin can sometimes be seen as challenging or consumers don’t necessarily know how to consume gin. We want to make sure that not only the category, but Bombay Sapphire becomes desirable and resonates with the next generation of culturally attuned consumers.
Partnering at the after parties of the Met Gala from both Baz Luhrman and Stella McCartney certainly catapults us into that conversation. And for us it worked beautifully. We had Bombay Sapphire Sparkling Lemons flowing at both parties, the classic Bombay Sapphire martinis, and the serves and our involvement in the after party were covered in outlets like Vogue, The Cut, Page Six, just to name a few, as the drinks were photographed in the hands of many of the cultural icons that were there.
For us, when we’ve got the right events with authentic partners in the right moment, covered in the right publications, it puts our brands where our consumers are and that ensures that we know we’re forging the right types of partnerships.
Multichannel Marketer: Then taking that one step further, how do you measure the uplift of that? Is that a goal — to then see it on the sales side?
Keller: Yes. We take a 360 approach to how we measure not only our collaborations, but the totality of our campaign. So there’ll be short-term collaborations, but it’ll also be the work we do year long and as we look at three year plans. We look at earned media, we look at digital impact, influencer amplification. We look at metrics like total coverage, unique views, social engagement across talent partners. And we also track things like share a voice to make sure we’re staying ahead of the competition and making sure Bombay Sapphire is the most talked about gin.
At the end of the day, when we look at our brand health metrics, of course we want to be building desire and awareness, but we also want to make sure that that’s translating into both short-term and long-term sales. And also that we’ve got new consumers trying the brand. So we’ll also look at how our performances vs. previous campaigns or vs. same time period prior year on first time trial.
Multichannel Marketer: How did the Met Gala do on some of those metrics?
Keller: Very well. We like to always set a high bar, and as our metrics continue to improve so far to date, for us, our first quarter, our share of voice continues to grow. We continue to see our performance grow. And we see that from the number of unique visitors, and we’re also seeing it in increased engagement on social.
Multichannel Marketer: Can you share any metrics about your share of voice?
Keller: Bombay Sapphire historically for the last six years has had the No. 1 share of voice with gin.
Multichannel Marketer: Can you share how much that event attributed to growth or something like that?
Keller: It’s hard to make that direct correlation, but our performance is strong and our share of leadership in the category is strong. So all signs are pointing to the campaign being successful, and we see that across all brand health metrics. We continue to be the No. 1 gin brand in awareness. We continue to be the No. 1 gin brand in desire.
The brand also leads across important health metrics like, “brand for me,” “happy to be seen drinking,” “makes great tasting drinks.” And I’d say the campaign or particular collaboration itself doesn’t necessarily drive one particular sales metrics; It’s the 360 nature of all of the work that we do together that translates to the success that we’re seeing.
Multichannel Marketer: Going back to when you referred to gin as a challenged category in the U.S., can you explain more about that and how it related to your larger goals?
Keller: Gin traditionally is seen as martini only, or specialty cocktail bar, a little bit stuffier and stiffer. Bombay Sapphire is really trying to take gin and bring it out into the light. So as you see the types of partnerships that we’re gravitating towards now, it’s all set in these lighter, brighter, traditionally outdoor occasions and in cultural and environmental moments that have consumers a little bit more leaned in.
Multichannel Marketer: How did Bombay Sapphire become the official gin sponsor for the E1 Championships?
Keller: We partnered very closely with our global team and working with an agency to identify a cultural partnership that had authentic fit with the brand. So knowing that we were pushing into a new occasion territory that’s quite disruptive for the gin category. And to find an entity that is not over congested in brand partnerships and sponsorships, E1 kind of opened up as a potential opportunity. It’s a brand-new sport that a lot of people don’t yet know. But when we learned about our shared passions in sustainability, when we learned about the sport itself, the backdrop for our occasion, and then of course you couple that with the caliber of talent, it becomes really compelling.
Multichannel Marketer edited this interview for length and clarity.
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