Concept
Kenneth Hansen, international marketing manager for malt beverages at Royal Unibrew, says Supermalt studied its audience before launching the Got It campaign: "We did behavioural research around Supermalt's customers and found fashion was a passion point, along with socialising and the party spirit."
Khamisi McKenzie, co-founder and director of Three Halves Communications, which works with Supermalt on its live activity, says the brand has a clear target audience in mind. "Supermalt's demographic is Afro-Caribbean of all ages. Customers have grown up with the product, they would have seen it at family parties, weddings and events, so it's instilled in their culture," he says. With its latest experience, the brand wanted to target the younger end of this core audience. "They are in their mid-twenties and looking to carry on family traditions through their own events, so we thought there was an opportunity to engage with them," McKenzie explains.
To catch the attention of these younger consumers, the brand and Three Halves launched an event series last year to tap into their interests, such as music and art. The latest incarnation this year was a fashion showcase at Blackall Studios in Shoreditch, east London on 13 February, to which competition winners, fashion bloggers, music industry representatives and journalists were invited to experience the influence traditional African attire and a retro Caribbean sense of style has had on modern-day fashion.
Experience
Central to the showcase was a multi-brand fashion show to highlight SS15 styles. Garments from designers Kiwi & Yam, Afrination and Nomadic People, as well as custom Supermalt designs by London artist Giovanni Muscat, were paraded around a two-level catwalk. Also, models on plinths around the blank canvas space displayed designers' wares, including Zimbabwean-born Preline Martha's eye-catching prints, Samson Soboye's menswear collection inspired by the designer's Nigerian heritage and modern dandies, and Nomadic People's 'gentlemanly urban' garments.
The Costume Institute of the African Diaspora (CIAD) showcased a dress designed by 15-year-old Tianna Jade Small Cruickshank Brown. She had won a CIAD design competition as part of the organisation's 'Tartan: Its Journey Through the African Diaspora' project in 2014.
As DJ P Montana provided a musical backdrop to the evening, guests soaked up the atmosphere while sipping on chilled Supermalt and three exclusive cocktails created for the brand. These were Passion Malt, consisting of passion fruit, white rum and Supermalt; Royal Malt containing dark rum, Supermalt and lime; and Super Schnapp, which mixed lemonade, peach schnapps and Supermalt.
Guests also interacted with the brand on the night and showcased their style highlights through Supermalt's dedicated hashtag, #supermaltfashion, with selected posts displayed on a live social media wall.
Success
Supermalt expected a modest, 200-strong turnout for the fashion showcase, but the event attracted almost 400 people. Among the VIP guests were actor and comedian Arnold Jorge, as well as rappers Che Lingo and Parris Wright and fashion influencers and bloggers Beauty By JJ, Breeny Lee, The Slumflower and Sincerely, Oghosa. The experience generated more than 165,000 impressions on Facebook, with 852 new likes, as well as 237,000 Twitter impressions and an extra 312 new followers. Twitter produced an average engagement rate of 9.3 per cent, with a total of 22,100 engagements, and 421 Instagram pictures were uploaded during the event.
Supermalt plans to continue the Got It concept through further experiential activity. "We have a strong idea and want to create different consumer touchpoints," says Hansen. "In April we intend to focus on sport, while music experiences will feature in July and August as we look to activate at rooftop parties to demonstrate a real carnival spirit around the brand."
ON REFLECTION
"The event touched on an area of interest to the Supermalt consumer and had real cultural value." - Khamisi McKenzie, Three Halves Communications
"When we developed our experiential plans it was critical that we looked at our customers. We studied key elements, such as their lifestyles and interests." - Kenneth Hansen, Royal Unibrew
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