How not to spread glitter.
What 100 of Europe's best bars taught me about brand merch.
A couple of years ago I was sent to London, Paris, Rome & Madrid, tasked with understanding how drinks brands were getting their merchandise where it mattered most. Some 100 bars, restaurants and hotels later I came away with a lot of insight to what the industry was getting right and wrong, and a monomaniacal obsession with photographing POS in the wild, that still clogs my camera roll to this day.
Whilst I could write a thesis on my findings, these are 5 things you need to know to get in, and stay in, the most influential venues of the on-trade.
Advocate for the advocates.
Our industry pours vast sums of money into trying to win over the bartenders that make the trade go round. But for some reason this logic hasn’t spilled over to the kit we supply them. By far the most loathed item from anyone I spoke to was branded tools. Namely because they’re almost always mass-produced, cheaply made and terrible quality. A brand ambassador I spoke to referred to brands doing this as ‘spreading glitter’. It might catch your eye initially but it’s going to end up in the bin and it’s killing the planet . Whether gifting individuals or supplying for service, create or source to the same standard the best hold themselves to.
Get rid of that glassware.
From luxury hotel to cutting-edge indie, venues go to great lengths to curate every aspect of the experience. Glassware is no exception and the choices made not only compliment these spaces but represent them. Luxury brands understand this well enough to style their studio shoots, but not to influence what they commission for the trade. The Moonpig school of glassware design, i.e. slap a logo on something that can be bought in units of 10,000, is fine for pubs and chain bars, not for The World’s 50 Best.
The bottom line is these bars are in themselves brands, so unless you’re also paying for them to be used, you’re diluting the most important brand in the hierarchy. It’s generally a hard sell but if you insist, do something different. Work with the trends of the moment, be a bit sneaky with design, make 500 standouts and disperse tactically.
Make it big.
As established the more exclusive the venue the slimmer the chances your merch will be left pride of place for long. The one exception? Magnums, Jeroboams, Balthazars. For those of you who don’t speak French that’s big bottles. Ornamental grandness naturally draws the eye in a busy space, and on a backbar they bring a kind of titillating hedonism to even the most proper of establishments. The same can be said for ice buckets, props, and figurines. Although staff will have a lot less fun nipping pours from them after a shift.
Make it personal.
Everyone likes to feel special, bars are no exception. For those with deep enough pockets a long-term view cultivating relationships can look like custom-made bitters, edible perfumes, collaborative serviceware collections. Some even commission bespoke liquids. But for those without, it is still truly the thought that counts. Never underestimate the power of an engraving laser.
Make it beautilitarian.
The pieces that routinely stood out were a mixture of beautiful and useful. Stuff that made bartenders lives better and looked good doing it. Often we saw this done intuitively, the inherent human desire to keep a little box and use it for something else, does not stop when the sleeve garters go on. But you only need to witness one service to observe metal spill trays will last when rubber bar runners disintegrate in a dishwasher. Garnishes are always housed at eye-level on the counter. Beautiful ceramics make chic tip jars. There’s marginal gains to be made and a plethora of gaps to plug that could make everyone happy.
Except whoever creates the POS catalogue.
P.S. If you’ve made it this far spare a thought for George. My tour mate & design partner in crime, who was so sick of me by the time this was over he moved to Australia.
This is brilliant. you are brilliant.