Hennessy X NBA

The Challenge

Although Hennessy has high brand awareness and given its role in popular culture there is an appetite amongst a receptive target audience to associate with the brand, possible consumers often have a lack of knowledge in terms of how to drink it and as a result a lack of confidence to order Hennessy at the bar.

To make Hennessy more accessible and inclusive, we first need to get consumers to taste Hennessy in a mixed drink. By getting liquid on lips and demonstrating how Hennessy aligns with their lifestyle and passions, we can overcome these barriers and give consumers confidence to order.

We were able to reach our audience through the NBA partnership, using this platform as a means for consumers to discover Hennessy whilst offering an exclusive, elevated brand experience which provided rich and authentic social and cultural currency.

the solution

We were able to convert Hennessy’s high brand awareness into trial and sales, by leveraging the NBA partnership to create an engaging, hands-on consumer brand experience in one of London’s coolest neighborhoods. Boxpark in Shoreditch was chosen to host the 5 day activation, a venue which over-indexes on our target audience.

We built a bespoke court, where visitors to Boxpark were invited to take part in a free-throw challenge. Each competitor had 60 seconds to score as many hoops as they could for their chance to get their name on the leaderboard and win exclusive Hennessy x NBA merch and prizes. All participants were offered a free sample of Hennessy & Ginger and an opportunity to sign up to Hennessy’s online mailing list. Sample cups could then be redeemed at the main Boxpark bar for a discounted full-sized serve.

1,200 samples were distributed to over 1,300 players over the course of the activation, with amplification via brand owned and organic social activity.