• Bar sales of Gin in ATG theatres rose by 43% year on year.

• Brand preference increased among those who saw the activity from 13% to 24%.

• Purchase intent increased from 26% to 39% among a younger audience (under 45).

• There was a 45% increase in consumers choosing Gordon’s as their first drink of the evening.

Alex O'Rouke, Marketing Manager at Gordon’s: “Carat created a brilliant new opportunity to connect with our consumers with impact and relevance at exactly the right moment. It has delivered great results – and was a true media first”.

No one had taken a brand into the dramatic world of theatre before, placing it in front of millions of captive, highly receptive consumers. That’s exactly what we did for Gordon’s, surrounding theatre goers with an immersive Gordon’s experience.

At the centre was a bespoke show-starting 90” creative, projected onto the curtain once the lights had been dimmed and the audience were captive in their seats – the first time a brand has ever occupied this space in theatres.

In addition we provided:

• Discounted theatre tickets for the 150,000 Gordon’s G&T Society members.

• Solus Gordon’s branding on theatre ticket purchase confirmation emails.

• Permanent banner ads on the ATG website driving G&T Society sign up.

• Premium ads in ATG’s monthly magazine, theatre brochures and all theatre programs.

• Point Of Sale merchandise featured in all ATG bars.

Gordon’s was losing market share because its key consumption occasion – as the first drink of the evening – was being eroded by wine. Our challenge was to own the first drink of the evening.

Simply telling people to start their evening with Gordon’s wouldn’t deliver the emotion we required to boost perception and purchase. We needed to embody the aperitif moment and personalise the experience for consumers.

Starting the evening with a Gordon’s and Tonic creates a feeling of anticipation and excitement of how the evening will unfold. It’s the same feeling you get when the curtains rise at a theatre and the drama unfolds before you.

So this is what we did; we invented a new screen occasion. There was no clutter; we created a new gold spot, tailor-made for our audience, able to deliver the anticipation and then the reward via the theatre bars in the interval.