London Cocktail Week: A Spider Review

With the return of the seventh London Cocktail Week, the Spider consumer team headed down to Spitalfields last week to see if we could spot any up-and-coming trends, experience the different brand activations and, of course, taste a few cocktails along the way!

As Spider currently work with both established and challenger brands, we wanted to determine the value for participating brands and whether it was a real ‘must-do’ event.

Big Players and Small Challengers

Upon arrival, one aspect which immediately became clear to us, was the divide between brands that had high levels of investment versus brands who didn’t. To be clear, investment in this context describes the strategy, thought and effort that had gone into the stand – not just the pure cost.

The smaller stands were slightly dwarfed by the big players but with engaging staff, free samples and exciting activities, some of them were really able to make a big impact. A bartender throwing bottles in the air or a gregarious staff member really engaging with visitors made all the difference.

Staff are Key

One of the bigger stands, a surprisingly well-known brand, had all the makings to be a success however the staff let them down. Standing around looking uninterested with nothing particularly exciting to serve meant that the majority of the crowd just passed by.

Staffing is one of the most important elements to a stand and, as staff are often provided by an agency, proper briefing and training of those hired to be the face of the brand at an event should not be an afterthought.