The gin category is declining and the largest contributing factor is consumers just don’t know what to do with it. Cocktails are complicated, and Bombay Sapphire was competing in a category that was declining 2% year over year. They had to connect with consumers and provide inspiration to make cocktails at home. What’s the best way to do this? It’s actually connecting with the bartender. The bartender is seen as the advocate for the craft cocktail. Once a consumer has had a great experience at their favorite bar, they are inspired and try to recreate a what they’ve experienced at home.

I helped created The Most Imaginative Bartender, an advocacy program that celebrates the magicians of the cocktail. We created a national event recruiting over 1800 bartenders in local markets, which selected 36 semi-finalists that we sent to a competition in Las Vegas. Five finalists were selected to move forward and one ultimately crowned The Most Imaginative Bartender.

We partnered with Condé Nast Entertainment and GQ Magazine for the event and took over the Men of the Year issue featuring our winner on the rotation of Men of the Year feature covers. The event was promoted through the GQ app The Scene and episodes of the competition entitled America’s Bartender were aired throughout the month of December.

This program increased Bombay Sapphire’s sales by 14% which is a 16% increase above the gin category.