Our “In the Market” series explores how we bring our brands to life in our local markets, closest to our customers and consumers. This edition highlights an experiential campaign that is national in scale but local in execution, supporting the continued growth of Fever-Tree mixers.
When Non-alc Marketing Activation Director Matt Stallman walked into a high-end bar and told the bartender he works on the Fever-Tree brand, the bartender feigned ignorance. But just as Stallman was about to begin explaining it, the bartender cut him off.
“Of course I know Fever-Tree,” the bartender laughed. “It’s the best, by far. It’s all we use here.”
Fever-Tree is America’s No. 1 mixer brand, and its premium positioning – including the lengths the brand goes to source the best ingredients – makes it a standout among bartenders and mixologists. It’s also the insight behind the brand’s first national campaign that launched in April, “Mix with the Best,” which states that: a bartender’s best kept secret... is now your secret too.
If the secret wasn’t already out then, it’s certainly out now.
Fever-Tree only continues to accelerate. According to Circana through July 19, dollar sales are up nearly 10% year-to-date, and over 13% in the last 13-week period. And while Fever-Tree holds the highest dollar share in the mixer category, that only continues to grow, up nearly 3 points in dollar share vs prior year for the last 13 weeks through July 19, according to Circana.
This past quarter was also the brand’s highest sales quarter since it partnered with Molson Coors just over a year ago, another proof point in how Fever-Tree is bolstering Molson Coors’ non-alc portfolio and beyond beer ambitions, and in Molson Coors’ ability to scale the brand.
Now, Fever-Tree is building momentum this summer with a sampling tour that’s hitting cities and premier bartender conventions.
“This is Fever-Tree’s biggest activation push, ever, in the United States,” says Stallman. “We have a stellar, category-leading brand that still has lots of awareness to gain, so for a lot of people we see in these markets, we’re making a first impression with this tour. It has to be a great impression.”
Having started in April in San Antonio and continuing through September, the 24-week tour includes 72 activation days in over 20 cities – because to truly understand what makes Fever-Tree so special, you have to try it for yourself, Stallman explained.
The experiential activations, anchored by an aesthetic mobile cocktail bar, are a statement that once you try Fever-Tree, you wouldn’t want to mix your drinks with anything else. As Fever-Tree continues to expand distribution and awareness, experiential sampling remains one of the brand's most effective tools for converting first-time consumers into repeat ones.
While the brand’s activation strategy is targeted toward consumers, Fever-Tree’s lifeblood is the bartender community, so the tour has also made stops at bartender-specific events: Camp Runamok, a “bartender sleepaway camp” in Kentucky, Bar Convent Brooklyn, and most recently as the official mixer sponsor at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans.
At Tales of the Cocktail alone, Fever-Tree participated in nearly 50 events, reminding bartenders just how much better their concoctions taste when using Fever-Tree over other mixers, or the soda gun.
“Bartenders deserve the best mixers to do their best work, so we need to show up at the places where they come together to celebrate their profession,” says Stallman. “And what we’ve seen is that it’s not only the bartenders who prefer Fever-Tree, full-strength spirits brands with activations are asking for it too. They want to pair their high-quality products with only the best mixer to make the best impression, so we’re always happy to run a few cases of Fever-Tree over to them.”
As Fever-Tree continues its nation-wide sampling tour, it’s staying focused on what it is, and what it isn’t. It’s a top-of-the-line mixer, it’s made with premium ingredients, it cares about the details. It’s not bland or basic. It’s focused on winning people over by getting on the ground and showing them what Fever-Tree is all about.
And while it does this, the accolades keep rolling in.
Fever-Tree is Drinks International’s No. 1 Best Selling Mixer for 12 years in a row, and is the NY International Spirits Carbonated Mixer Brand of the Year for six years running. Individual mixers within Fever-Tree's portfolio have totaled over 50 awards and counting. It’s no wonder the brand is pairing its first national campaign with its strongest experiential activations yet, because how it tastes and mixes is its biggest strength.
Fever-Tree is so lauded, and so awarded, that if a bartender tells you they haven’t heard of it, they’re probably messing with you.
“We are proud of our growth, our awards, and the love our bartenders and drinkers have for us, but we aren’t resting on our laurels,” says Stallman. “We have something special here, and we want to bring Fever-Tree to more markets and more people, so drinkers can taste the difference for themselves.”