Grey Goose vodka hosted its Character & Cocktails charity event at London's Savoy hotel to raise funds for the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
In its fourth year, the event invites society’s well-to-do to a Winter Ball where a celebrity-created bespoke home bar will be auctioned off to support the charity. The Winter Ball is hosted by Elton John, David Furnish and Grey Goose.
“Grey Goose is obviously trying to connect themselves with a cause that gives them added credibility,” said Joe Waters, director of cause and event marketing at Boston Medical Center and a cause marketing blogger at SelfishGiving.com, Boston. “People expect this from brands, especially Millenials and moms.
“It’s a great way for them to position themselves,” he said. “The fact that they have celebrities sponsoring the cause and opportunity takes it and times it by a thousand.
“That’s the effect a celebrity has on something like that, take a campaign like Livestrong with Lance Armstrong.
Grey Goose Character & Cocktails partners with celebrities and mixologists to create bars and cocktails in support of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
The Elton John AIDS Foundation was established in 1992 by Sir Elton John. Its British entity was established a year later. Together, the two organizations have raised over $220 million for AIDS projects in 55 countries internationally.
Cocktails for a cause
Since Grey Goose Character & Cocktail’s inception, it has had a variety of celebrity-designed bars, including Elizabeth Hurley and Patrick Cox’s “Disco Bar,” Gavin Turk’s “GTs” bar, Sam Taylor-Wood’s “Mess Bar,” Giles Deacon’s “CrystalZ” bar and Lily Allen’s “Lil Box of Tricks” bar.
Lily Allen's "Lil Box of Tricks" bar
This year, Jean Paul Gaultier will design the venue space and items to auction off in support of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
The event will have custom cocktails created by The Savoy’s mixologists and a dinner created by Chef Marcus Wareing.
Marketing to millenials
For any luxury marketing strategy, incorporating cause marketing is not only a good practice but has become expected.
According to a study by Cone Inc., Ninety-four percent of millenials, or those between the ages of 18 and 24, and 95 percent of mothers believe that brands and companies should incorporate a cause into their marketing.
Eighty-three percent of United States’ consumers wish that the products, services and retailers they use would support causes and 19 percent would use a more luxurious brand if it were associated with one. Eighty-five percent have a more positive image of a product or company if it supports a cause that they are aligned with.
“Brands should be involved in it because, unlike the rest of thing things that they are doing that heightens their visibility, cause marketing distinguishes them from their favorability,” Mr. Waters said. “You can’t put it aside all of the other things and say it’s just like this, it’s just like that.
“Because it does something very different, not only is it different but its positive and it leads them to greater buying,” he said. “People are more likely to buying a product if you’re involved with a cause.
“Being involved with a cause creates a greater opportunities than if you’re just trying to sell a product. By incorporating a cause, Grey Goose may have gotten more celebrity support than it would have otherwise and it heightened the creativity of the event and it gave them access to more things.”
Final Take
Kaitlyn Bonneville, editorial assistant at Luxury Daily, New York