The best launch campaigns appear out of the blue.

Client

Echo Falls

Area

Trade
Consumer

The Challenge

Echo Falls announced the biggest, bluest wine NPD of the summer and wanted to make serious noise. With blue alcoholic drinks fast becoming a trend, the challenge was standing out on an increasingly crowded shelf.

Working to a wholesale-first exclusive, the goal was to generate excitement around the launch, secure influential trade coverage, and drive awareness among the retailers responsible for stocking and promoting the product - putting the launch firmly on the trade agenda while supporting wider consumer trial.

Our Approach

We delivered a fully integrated communications programme encompassing retailer relations, a full trade press office, targeted trade advertising and supporting consumer PR, designed to land the launch everywhere it needed to be.

We brought the trade together at an exclusive launch event at Darcie & May Green in Paddington, hosting 11 journalists and independent retailers over an Aussie-inspired sharing lunch and a Blue Raspberry spritz. Then we took it to the streets with two store takeovers in Manchester at influential One Stop and Go Local Extra retailers. We painted every square inch blue with bespoke vinyls, POS, smoke cannons, a branded sampling station and a DJ, sampling 200+ tasters across two days.

Alongside, a bespoke press approach - tailored releases by channel and agile newsjacking, including a national exclusive in The Sun - carried the story from wholesale to grocery, culminating in Blue Ras being tasted live on Heart Breakfast by Amanda Holden and Jamie Theakston: a level of visibility no paid placement could replicate.

convenience store TAKEOVER

blue raspberry coverage

02.04 - Retail Express - EF Blue Ras.png

21.04 - Helena Nicklin - Echo Falls & Jam Shed - Instagram story.jpg

21.04 - Helena Nicklin - Echo Falls Blue Raspberry - Instagram story.jpg

Results

Across trade and consumer press the launch landed 82 pieces of coverage and more than 210 million opportunities to see. Trade PR achieved a 100% pick-up rate across target titles with 100% positive sentiment, several articles holding "top news story" status for weeks in Convenience Store and Better Retailing.

Consumer activity reached 208M+ through titles including The Sun, Daily Express, Metro, Manchester Evening News and Yahoo Life, supported by organic influencer gifting.

A digital-first trade advertising plan, anchored by a full-page advert in Retail Express, delivered a 1.48% click-through rate - well above industry average.