It’s time to showcase what we’ve been working on and how it will solidify WNO’s status as a leading rum brand.

For the last 6-month’s we’ve been working on the clothing and accessories of The Yard Shop - Wray & Nephew's new merchandise and products.

Now, we wanted to bring it to the masses and showcase it at our launch event – The Yard Shop Pop-Up.

This pop-up had 5 key objectives:

• Leverage Current Cultural Influence:  Use WNO’s current cultural relevance to spring broad into the wider lifestyle scene.

• Differentiate The Brand: Show another side of the brand to separate it from other drinks brands in the market.

• Repositioning of the brand: Allow WNO to be seen as more than just a rum brand - a leader, information source and inspiration – that consistently pushes the culture forward.

• Enhance Cultural Capital: Cement WNO’s position as a leader in the urban creative scene. Whether music, fashion, or art, Wray & Nephew will become a staple and permanent fixture within popular culture.

• Build Credibility: Build trust and credibility within this new audience through consistent messaging.

WHY SHOULD PEOPLE CARE?

For genuine buy-in to inform our audience (current & prospective), media and influencers alike, we need to make The Yard Shop about more than just the clothing. We must look at this as an extension of culture.

As an extension of ‘Straight From Yard’, The Yard Shop needs to reflect everything Straight From Yard represents.

The Yard Shop, both physical and digital, needs to represent a world that our audience wants to be a part of and feel connected to.

RESULTS

·       A 3-day event at Protein Studios in Shoreditch, London.

·       We kickstarted the Yard Shop with a launch party.

·       The other 2 days allowed visitors to buy the products before they were live on the website.

·       Over 550 people attended throughout the 3 days.

·       A rise in 1030 new followers.

·       An engagement rate of 9.7% for our organic content.

·       An engagement rate of 12.3% on promoted content.

HOW DID WE DO IT?

Physical Seeding

• Gifting products to key influencers from different interest areas.

• By seeing tastemakers dressed in Wray clothing, we can build credibility in the merchandise, as well as desire and anticipation for the release of the products.

• We touched the different pillars: music, fashion and content creators to bring in a diverse audience, which will then be transformed into social media content.

Online

• Generate coverage from influencers.

• Seeding products to get people to post content about WNO.

• Generating visibility for the brand at events to which influencers are invited.

WNO’s Platforms

• Consistent and regular themed content.

• Promoted posts (for the launch only, not products).

• Use of the website to tell more about the story.

Out-of-Home Campaign

• To gain traction for the event, we used OOH advertising to get the word out there.

• We released creatives all around Shoreditch to drive local footfall.

EVENT FEATURES

Guests

Wray’s audience has always been its life force.

Much of Wray’s audience are active members of London’s thriving creative and urban scene. Placing us in a strong position to spread our messages.

The guest list was full of key faces, the people who have shaped and are currently shaping the different creative industries and cultures across the board.

Our press efforts involved inviting journalists, bloggers and editors to attend, which allowed us to get 17 articles published.

Décor

The pop-up saw the venue incorporate decorative styles that touch on a Jamaican takeaway/living room/house party experience.

Small decorative pieces and installations allowed the attendees to feel the authenticity connected to the brand.

The gallery aspect of the space allowed us to display powerful imagery around the venue that helped tell the story of Wray’s Yard Shop.

Those coming from a Jamaican/Caribbean background had that feeling of nostalgia, being transported back to a time of familiarity. For others, they gained a deeper insight into the culture behind the Wray & Nephew brand.

Food & Music

The name, ’Wray’s Yard Shop’, was derived from a local term for a Jamaican takeaway restaurant, ‘Yard Shop’.

Food is also a key ingredient for any Jamaican party.  For that reason, we want to be able to offer guests our guests food that is reflective of the culture.

These were small bites that guests could enjoy at the earlier part of the event, which helped add to the cultural curation of the event.

The Pop-Up carried a party vibe, with music playing, a live DJ during the day, and one complimentary serving of Reggae Rum Punch for guests.

As part of this, we transformed this concept from physical to digital, to bring the brand and its consumers The Yard Shop.