ROOTS THE ZINE
FEB 2022
#1
#2
Innovation with Moe Aljaff – pump up your SoMe
BROUGHT TO YOU BY Fanny Hennequin Brand Advocacy Manager Int. Region
Meimi Sánchez Miguel Peñarrocha Digital Community Executive
Senior Manager, The Blend Global
Brodie Meah opened Top Cuvée with the Venning brothers (of Three Sheets fame) in 2020. The original concept focused on a bricks and mortar restaurant, specializing in natural wine and simple seasonal dishes.
MEAH
& the digital acceleration
When the pandemic hit, and restaurants were forced to close, the trio launched Shop Cuvée an online store offering wine, cocktails and spirits delivered to your door. It took off. Post pandemic, Top Cuvée is thriving, Shop Cuvée has it’s own retail location and Cave Cuvée, a bar/shop hybrid, opened just a few months ago. Undoubtedly, Top Cuvée’s social media presence has been integral to its success, and Brodie represents a new wave of online entrepreneurs, adept at converting online followers into real life revenue.
When you started Top Cuvee, did you know from the start that digital and social media would be so important to your brand? Not really, further than understanding that digital is a cheap way to contact customers. Instagram was still cool so it was an obvious one and I understood the value of collecting customer emails from day 1.
”We've circled back to how we started which is all about being genuine, personable with no filter” How has social media helped you to grow your business? Do you see a direct correlation between your social media activities and your online sales? It's given us an audience. It's a great way for people to casually check us out at first - which we hope in turn leads to them coming to see us at the restaurant or buying something online. Another huge one is how it allows us to connect with other brands, people and artists - that's certainly helped with growth We're actively trying to not be wholly reliant on Instagram as a sales driver, more like a shop window. If we turned it off completely I'm sure we'd see a big decrease, but I don't think we see loads of direct conversions from “insta”, unless we do something specific.
How much time are you dedicating to TikTok does that represent a revenue stream to you? Yes we're TikTokkin’ currently. In "discovery mode" where we're finding out how to best use that platform. I believe it will just be the "next Instagram" to a certain extent
How do you produce your content? You have a mini studio at TC - is it important for you to control and produce your own visual assets? The studio is used mainly for ecomm product shots which are super important. I believe it's super powerful to create any and all content in house - it give us immediacy, creative control and means there's nothing lost in translation between brand vision and creative execution. If we could have a proper studio I think our creative output would really increase tenfold but we're working with what we have
”I believe it's super powerful to create any and all content in house - it give us immediacy and creative control” Do you collaborate with brands on digital content, if not - would you? My plan really is to get a video setup so I can produce seamless content for brands. Eg, a colab video that's made by us. My dream would be to have a TV show that could live on Insta or Youtube and cover a whole bunch of topics, collaborating with different brands to highlight whatever it is they're trying to showcase, but given authenticity due to the fact it's not always an advert and the content is genuinely interesting.
Do you think digital will continue to play a big role in the hospitality industry? No doubt. Whether that's through marketing or ecommerce, the internet is here to stay and it's only going to get more commercial. Surely within our lifetime we'll be "living online" with the real world becoming more of a novelty such as the internet was when it first started. But that's what's really interesting when it comes to hospitality, because you can't do that online no matter what Mark Zuckerberg and the Metaverse want you to think!
”Our strategy now is to show off our people, essentially use digital as if we're a person, not a brand”
“HOW-TO”
D GITAIL How-to Connect consumers at home with their favourite bars and cocktails with BSI brands
Venue online shops
12:25
Support venues to build online shops and collaborate on limited edition merchandise
Check out @MargotLecarpentier, the queen of “at home cocktails”! Her online tutorials led to Vogue and Le Fooding doing a collab with her!
13:19
12:27
Influencer Collab Delivery
Industry influencers are growing, collaborations give you organic reach
Give consumers an opportunity to enjoy cocktails at home with BSI brands
17:25
12:27
Industry Digital Understanding & Growth As our industry evolves in digital be the brand that supports the journey & drives innovation 19:42
Augmented Reality AR allows provides a novel, shareable way to enjoy a drink by overlaying 3-D animations 10:34
Check this out!
Instagramable Contrasting colors, bright clear cocktails, smoke bubbles… Free word of mouth marketing opportunities are your best ally! 12:27
https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2019 /03/08/The-Alchemist-launches-augmentedreality-cocktail-menu 10:36
12:29
GEM Bringing the menu to life
Diego Cabrera’s imagination will never cease to amaze. Indeed, to present Salmon Guru’s new cocktail menu he decided to launch a disruptive digital and interactive one that blends both 3D technology and augmented reality. You can rotate, zoom and project your cocktail on your table before ordering while learning about the flavour profile and ingredients.
Can you drink a NFT?
Adam Handling’s Eve Bar has joined the NFT ship with his new menu collection. A total of 13 digital pieces inspired by their signature cocktails, created in collaboration with local artists and bartenders. Acquiring a NFT comes with a recipe card and an undisclosed amount of complimentary cocktails from the bar. There’re also 3 rare NFTs, exclusively designed that come with a recipe that only creator and buyer will own. The buyer will receive a one to one masterclass with the NFT curator.
MBA Design your bar in VR
https://behindbars.agency/
They use VR as an essential part of their design process allowing their team and clients to experience the bar station long before they go to production. This technology allows them to bring interactivity and realism to the design process, making clients from miles away to experience the bar and be part of the process.
Monica Berg working her new bar station
And the phygital store experience
The brand opened its first ever flagship experiential store in Madrid for whisky lovers. Among the experiences available, guests can discover the craft of cocktail making, a tasting table where they can deep dive into the world of flavors and a personalization station to create unique gifts. The store offers virtual experiences such as Discover Scotland through Johnnie Walker or find out your perfect cocktail through an immersive digital immersion that will allow you to sip it straight away from their bar.
WORD ON
Nicole Sykes
“
UK Maker’s Mark Diplomat
Digital innovation and the use of social platforms have been a climbing trend in the UK for many years and as the pandemic hit the use of such platforms increased dramatically.
We’ve seen bars using digital to stay in touch with guests and other bars around the world These platforms are being used to promote and sell pre made and bottled cocktails which for most bars was their only income during the various lockdowns. Coupette in London introduced live music every Sunday night before being forced to close, they kept this going during lockdown by live streaming on their digital platforms and sold bottled cocktails to accompany the occasion. Satan’s Whiskers have upped their digital game by doing weekly classic cocktail quizzes to keep their guests and audience engaged, encouraging them to order drinks from the quiz on their next visit to the bar. They’ve also ran various competitions to win bar tabs all through their Instagram.
“
Distilleries also had to flip to the virtual world with many brands investing in ‘virtual tours’ for bartenders.
THE STREET
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Benjamin Flavigny France Maker’s Mark Diplomat
It’s not a secret that Instagram changes the rules of the On Trade, if you don’t have an IG account for your bar/restaurant then something is missing. If you want to reach out to new customers, or to develop your image or your reputation, you need to be on social media. If you want to maximize your chance to have new followers, so new customers, you have to use IG to share pictures of your drinks/food, and if you really want to reach out to a lot of persons you might need to collaborate with influencers. You have some bartenders who discovered that they wanted to share their passion on Youtube (see 135mL.Cocktail, using Maker’s Mark in Boulevardier and Mint Julep : 2 french bartenders who decided to teach about cocktails and their history.
I personally used IG’s Live during the first lockdown: I invited one bartender to share an hour with me to talk about them, about their work and Maker’s Mark. It was a good way to stay active and share a special moment with them, and it allowed me to reach their followers.
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Steven Zylstra BS Brand Ambassador
South Africa has seen an increase in the use of QR codes for menus as well as a drive to create more of a personality within their social profiles. The idea of interacting with its clientele and having its own voice has been quite a trail blazer. They are some profiles that did stand out on social like Peter Lebese (@theegintleman) and Julian Short (@the_flavourist) and his bar (@sin_tax_bar) as best practice for example. We have adapted our intentions when it comes to On Trade activations – we now focus on creating content more than achieving sales on the day of the event. This allows us to create equity and advocacy at a venue without the pressure of hitting a sales target.
“
INDUSTRY Moe Aljaff Owner of Two Schmucks (N.11 @50bestbars) Half schmuck, half digital guru
“Social media its like the 98% when we build our brand! the entire thing started with a phone, some pictures and word of mouth, social media was everything ”
“We had, no PR, no money for photographers or videographers… I said alright
f#%* it I’ll do that ”
“Once I learned it, it was very liberating, we could do
whatever, whenever ”
The future? “Videos, short form fast bites, even photography nowadays is being compiled into a 10 second video with a song behind it. Basic editing is something that every kid is equipped with, there will be a ton more.”
INNOVATION An advice to brands
“Digital will play a massive role in our day to day lives, therefore the hospitality industry as well !”
BY THE
51%
of consumers get ideas of where to go based on their friend’s social media post
45%
images or videos
Upload “most” or “every” time they go out
Sources: ·CGA 2021
NUMBERS
48%
Agree that how they come across on social media is
very important to them
33%
say that if they don’t post about a night out…“it’s like it never happened” “it’s like it never happened” “it’s like it never happened” “it’s like it never happened”
[ It is about creating engaging digital experiences and content to generate awareness, looking at it from an Omnichannel strategy rather than focusing only on the on-trade experience ]
ORDER
#2
You’ve been served by: The Blend Team BRODIE MEAH &
THE DIGITAL ACCELERATION
PAGE 4
SALMON GURU’S, EVE’S BAR & MORE
PAGE 9
BEE’S KNEES 2X
18 $
LAPHROAIG OLD-FASHIONED 3X WORD ON THE STREET– TRENDS AROUND THE GLOBE
39 $ PAGE 11
MOE’S ALJAFF TIPS
PAGE 13
# OF ITEMS SOLD
6 FEBRUARY
DATE
Issue #3 to be served
MAY 2022