Hydrating the masses!

What’s more creative than not saying it all?

Creativity is a bit like being funny. If you have to tell people you are then you’re probably not!

Our recent partnership with the Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival yet again gave us the opportunity to flex our creative muscles. The two-day Festival, now in its 19th year, is run by a not for profit organisation dedicated to celebrating and publicising the abundance, variety and quality of food and drink in Suffolk. They also support local charities in their fundraising, food and educational objectives throughout the year. 

We’d all visited and admired the festival for a few years, and with many of our own clients on the exhibitor list, plus our extensive experience in the Food and Beverage sector, we decided to reach out to the organisers to see how we could get involved. Luckily they already knew our work and were delighted to have us on board as a sponsor.

Creativity at pace

We now found ourselves just four weeks from a major event, with a prime location at the festival to fill and nothing to fill it with, so we quickly got to work deciding on how best to profile what makes Spring… Spring! 

We wanted to sidestep the typical branded swag,  opting for something useful, while making a clever, memorable statement without directly shouting about what it is we actually do. As I say, just telling people you’re creative kind of misses the point.

We did however want to demonstrate our expertise in brand and marketing without relying on overt self-promotion but instead creating a more meaningful experience. This meant something experiential that not only met our own marketing objectives, but connected with the audience we were about to be face to face with for the weekend.

First we had conversations with the organisers to gain a better understanding of the audience, traders and other sponsors, along with the opportunities. We then began working on the strategy, factoring in the environment at the event, audience, logistics, commercials and the outcomes. After several ideas that we tested we landed on it – Water! Everyone needs it and we weren’t stepping on the toes of the actual producers who were there trading.

We began to bring ‘Spring + Water’ to life, adding the supporting line ‘Refreshingly Creative’ which subtly gave a nod to Spring’s actual offer. Providing a water station also addressed a practical need identified during our discovery session with the organisers. 

Our decision to use more expensive cans rather than bottles also touched on our environmental commitments, avoiding plastic. Giving it away also allowed us to engage the audiences without any real apparent sales message. We dotted hints to our work on the cans, and around the stand, but in a considered and playful way which stayed true to the initial objective.

With the addition of packaging and props including water barrels, apparel, video, animation and the stand itself, all created by our copywriter and design team, we were able to show the breadth of what we do.

Delivering where it matters

As we hoped, the majority of people at the festival mistook us for a new water brand, which sparked conversation and of course surprise at the realisation we were actually a brand and marketing agency. For us, this was the aim and speaks to how well executed and cohesive our concept was – seamlessly integrating our presence into the festival in a way that was both functional and interesting … literally stopping people in their tracks.

Over the two days we gave away 5,000 cans of water, keeping thirst at bay for producers and visitors alike, including some of the UK’s most famous foodies. We met and chatted with some of our region’s biggest businesses and even arranged follow ups with brands that wanted that creative injection.

The work speaks for itself — creativity in action, without saying a word.