The objective:
We needed to get guys to stop ordering Rum and Cokes, and start ordering BACARDÍ Cuba Libres with lime.
The strategy:
The original Cuba Libre cocktails were created in the early 1900s to celebrate the end of the Cuban War of Independence by bringing together the BACARDÍ Gold of Cuban Revolutionaries and US soldiers’ cola rations. They toasted ‘Por Cuba Libre!’ and an original drink of freedom was born. This history has been lost on our consumer, with the cocktail becoming a generic bar staple. In addition, we knew ordering a drink at the bar is hugely important to our demographic’s self image. A rum and coke is ordered dozens of times on any given night, but lacks in excitement and cache. Combining these two factors, we needed to give guys a new bar call, bringing meaning and symbolism back to the cocktail, and allow the brand to own the serve.
The execution:
To celebrate Cuban Independence Day, we partnered with car service partner, UBER, to give Londoners a taste of freedom. For one night only, users could log onto the Uber app, hit the BACARDÍ bat icon and nominate their friend who was stuck in an undesirable situation to receive the drink. One of ten mixologists, paired with a driver then delivered the free, freshly mixed BACARDÍ Cuba Libre with lime, right to their door. We tracked the cars and conversation to help fuel the chatter in real-time.
The results:
Uber Libre a huge success, with the #UberLibre hashtag reaching 6.7 million people, and trended on Twitter. Heavy influencers in our demographic picked up on it and engaged in the activation, and there were more social mentions for BACARDÍ Cuba Libre in a 48-hour window in the UK than the whole of last year combined.
