Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program?
Cocktails and Grand Cayman go together like sun and sand. To further that association, Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa, introduced a unique upscale bar concept to the island with the opening of Library by the Sea (LBTS) in December 2022. The resort’s extraordinary new cocktail lounge is the first of its kind on Grand Cayman, offering guests an immersive experience via award-winning cocktails inspired by literary works and authors in a stylish and design-forward space.
Diligently crafted by a world-renowned team of bar industry veterans from award-winning venues, LBTS quickly became a strong contender to be recognized as one of the best new bars in the world.
As the resort’s agency of record since its grand opening in 2016, TURNER was in charge of executing a large-scale PR launch campaign, as well as an ongoing promotional strategy post-opening. Our overarching objectives included:
• Introduce LBTS as the Caribbean’s premier cocktail bar, as well as establish its notoriety on a global scale to drive bookings from a new audience of beverage-obsessed travelers to the resort.
• Build awareness for the opening by engaging the resort’s core consumer audiences and new beverage-focused segment with frequent, consistent messaging in the outlets they read and via curated in-market activations.
With these objectives in mind, we set out to achieve the following goals:
• Target top-tier writers to bolster pre-opening excitement via a curated media mailer offering a sneak preview of LBTS’s offerings. Convert 50% of engagements to editorial coverage or media visits.
• Secure 10 feature placements in publications on Kimpton Seafire’s target media list that highlight LBTS with a combined readership of 3,000,000.
• Execute one LBTS grand-opening press trip hosting 2-3 writers to experience the bar.
• Execute one media activation in NYC to introduce LBTS to top-tier editors and consumers.
• Secure one bar-focused award recognition in a top industry publication.
Results: Which of your original goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the piece or campaign? Entrants should provide quantifiable results of their tactics or campaigns. (for example, click through rates or ad equivalency)
TURNER’s efforts to promote the opening of LBTS were achieved by utilizing the following strategies:
• The creation and execution of a tactical pre-opening plan with initiatives such as, targeted pitching to bar opening preview columns, distributing an opening press release announcement, crafting media kit materials, and delivering a special LBTS media mailer to top beverage writers.
• Executed a group press trip timed to the opening of LBTS with top-tier writers.
• Established strategic partnerships with two prominent NYC bars to execute an LBTS pop-up media event.
• Identified and submitted LBTS for relevant industry awards, while leveraging the bar team’s deep relationships with key decision-makers for nominations that were not open to the general public.
As a result of our strategies, we created a campaign with results that exceeded the goals set forth for the program:
• Sent out pre-opening media mailers inclusive of a deconstructed kit to create LBTS’s signature cocktail, “From Cayman With Love,” and a branded postcard to nine writers. This initiative resulted in two media visits and three feature stories, yielding a 56% conversion.
• Secured 14 feature placements of LBTS publications on Kimpton Seafire’s target media list, with a combined reach of 484,239,405. Coverage highlights included placements on Liquor.com, Forbes, Robb Report, Tasting Table, and Maxim.
• Timed to the grand opening of LBTS, we hosted three journalists to experience the brand-new bar. Media attendees included Jared Paul Stern (Maxim), Alana Tielman (Chilled Magazine), and Kara Newman (Liquor.com).
• In partnership with two prominent NYC bars, Milady’s and Mister Paradise, we successfully executed two LBTS pop-up events in each venue. Allowing, Kimpton Seafire’s Beverage Manager, Jim Wrigley to showcase LBTS’s offerings to a select group of elite NYC-based media.
• LBTS was named Best New International Cocktail Bar by Tales of The Cocktail’s 2023 Spirited Awards.
Return on Investment: How much revenue has the piece or campaign generated and how does this compare to your goal? What was the return on investment?
The launch was incredibly cost-effective; Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa is a retainer client at TURNER, so all media outreach was included in core programming (retainers are proprietary).
Total hard costs to the hotel were $5,896.88 - expenses associated with materials and shipping for the media mailers, group media FAM hosting, and NYC pop-up events. The resulting coverage following the media blitz had a total ad value of $2,614,720 generating an ROI of 44,240.74%.
Entry Title
Launching The Caribbean’s First Literary-Inspired Bar - Library by the Sea
Division
Public Relations/Communications - New Opening/Launch
Category
Public Relations/Communications