WKD, the UK’s No.1 traditional RTD1, is promising consumers an ‘epic summer’ with a multi-faceted campaign comprising: in-outlet gift with purchase promotions; on-trade sampling; interactive festival fun; a DJ competition offering the opportunity to perform at a major UK festival; £12,000 of Ticketmaster voucher prizes; and chances to win a holiday to Ibiza.

WKD invites consumers to ‘bring the party’ this summer and will reward those who do. Under the campaign theme of ‘Be The Face’, a £3m programme of activities will engage consumers and drive incremental sales in all trade channels. The multi-strand approach is linked together by WKD’s emoji faces, which feature on bottle caps, POS materials and fun consumer giveaways such as masks; these unique emojis act as branding, an entry mechanic, and as conversation starters.

The comprehensive summer 2018 WKD support will both generate fun for consumers and build sales for stockists through four key approaches:

  1. #BETHEFACE and the significant associated social media campaign will be a portal to epic prizes. Consumers find a WKD emoji face on bottle caps, coasters or free gift-with-purchase masks and ‘pop sockets’ (expanding phone grips and phone stands). Consumers take fun selfies featuring the brightly coloured WKD emojis and share them on Instagram and Twitter. Lucky winners selected at random will bag themselves £150 Ticketmaster vouchers to buy tickets for gigs and festivals.  Five Ticketmaster prizes are up for grabs every week until October.
  2. A major sampling campaign for new WKD Mango Crush. Sampling teams will encourage on-trade consumers across the UK to taste WKD’s new tropical flavour. A free WKD Mango Crush emoji mask will accompany every bottle subsequently bought on sampling nights. Uploaded images of consumers having fun wearing their masks will be entered into a draw for a holiday to Ibiza. One lucky mask-wearing Mango Crush purchaser will win a trip for four to the sunspot known as the island of a thousand faces.
  3. The chance to DJ at a major summer festival. A fully branded WKD competition hub on Mixcloud (the free online music-streaming service) will allow budding DJs to upload their sets for others to enjoy and vote for. The activity will be promoted by both Mixcloud and on-trade venue partner Stonegate. Entries earning significant amounts of ‘likes’, ‘shares’ and numbers of listeners will be invited by judges to compete at live WKD regional finals. Two overall champions (one north, one south) will each win the opportunity to DJ at the WKD Spot Bar at one of the UK’s most prestigious summer festivals
  4. Immersive brand experiences at 11 festivals. Following success at live music events in 2017, WKD is back with outdoor activities that are bigger, better and more fun than ever before. This year’s fully branded festival space will include the striking WKD Spot Bar, music, giant LED screens, interactive games, competitions, podium-style performance spots with dancers and entertainers, and a VIP Cocktail Lounge serving new WKD MIXED cocktails in cans. By day the giant screens will feature WKD’s bespoke air hockey-style ‘puck-challenge’ game, where contestants compete for VIP passes and branded emoji giveaways; by night the screens will show a WKD ‘equaliser’ which incorporates daytime crowd photography blended with a custom animation played in sync with music. All these elements will engage and entertain visitors to the vibrant WKD zone, but the main draw will be the amazing line-up of surprise DJ talent (which at two leading festivals will also include the winner of the #BETHEFACE Mixcloud competition).

The range of specific activities will vary at individual locations this summer, but WKD aims to surprise and excite consumers at of each of the 11 festivals, both by day and by night.

The all-encompassing UK-wide summer campaign will be complemented by a series of WKD Silent Disco events taking place in holiday resorts in Spain and Cyprus frequented by the brand’s 18–24 year-old target audience.

“This summer’s activity is all about being where our consumers are,” says Amanda Grabham, Head of Brand Marketing – Alcohol at SHS Drinks. “It’s a money-can’t-buy competition prize for up-and-coming DJs; it’s a range of brand experiences; and it’s a point-of-purchase activation.

The campaign has been designed to: drive rate-of-sale through giveaways and prizes; further enhance brand credibility through the DJ competition and Mixcloud partnership; and engage our audience in immersive experiences – be that at festivals, in on-trade outlets or via engaging activities at events. There are many strands to the campaign, but it’s very simple to describe in two words what we’re trying to deliver here for consumers: summer fun.

“We’re the UK’s No.1 traditional RTD1 and the responsibility falls on us to invest in activities that grow the category, engage consumers, and build sales for stockists. With WKD’s amusing emojis at the very centre of things and our #BETHEFACE campaign calling on consumers to don masks and upload selfies, WKD will, quite literally, be on everyone’s lips this summer,” Grabham concludes.