When Hendrick’s activated a Time Traveler’s Tavern at Tales of the Cocktail last summer, spirits industry insiders got a taste of its eccentric “Giniverse” with a tour through a world of paradoxical characters and concepts.
This year, with the launch of Another Hendrick’s, the first permanent expression added to its lineup in a decade, the notably peculiar brand opened up its cabinet of curiosities to consumers, and upped the ante on what “immersive” and “world-building” really mean. Welcome to Anotherland.
The interactive live theater experience is the brainchild of Dr. Ilana Gilovich, a director and former cast member of the world-renowned theatrical experience, “Sleep No More,” and was unveiled in New York City, April 16-17. The production, which took nearly 18 months to craft and perfect, is also slated to pop up in Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami this summer.
Those who got their hands on tickets to the limited-run show were both guided, and free to rove, through a dreamy three-story labyrinth of strange characters with even stranger stories to tell, intimate sampling experiences, apothecaries, botanical-themed rooms and choreographed moments of surprise, delight and whimsy peppered throughout. And it was all designed to seamlessly blend art with product storytelling.
Behind the curtain, the brand says the goal of Hendrick’s Anotherland is to preserve and engage its current consumer base while attracting new fans to the gin category.
“The reason we homed in on this big, immersive theater-style execution was through this understanding that in taking people out of their everyday, we’re allowing them opportunities to see and discover and explore and feel this sense of ‘alive’ that you feel when you explore something new, and ultimately, leave them with this sense of wonder,” says Anna Coccodrilli, global experience manager at Hendrick’s Gin.
THE JOURNEY
The attendee journey began underground in the Cucumber and Rose Speakeasy (a nod to the core ingredients that make up Hendrick’s original gin), where they were each assigned a botanical identity to embody throughout the experience, from caraway seeds to lemon peels to roses, based on a series of questions posed by costumed characters.
With the brand’s take on a cucumber fizz in hand, they were then set free to roam the footprint and interact with performers. On the first level, in the Salon, participants sipped on teeny martinis while a “cucumber gentleman” and his wife Rosa performed a tango and got the crowd involved. In the adjacent Cacao Room, they could spoon-feed themselves, or be spoon-fed, decadent cacao mousse and imbibe Hendrick’s French 75 Jello cocktails.
Over in the Greenhouse of Runaway Dreams, a medieval entertainer-like character called The Song of Art invited attendees to drift off into daydreams as he performed musical and spoken word “musings” about the act of daydreaming, all inspired by the orange blossoms harvested for Another Hendrick’s, and the groves they grow in.
“We wanted to keep the essence of the brand with moments of surprise and delight, or moments where it’s just something wacky and you think, ‘Only Hendrick’s would do this,’” says Coccodrilli. “But equally, we wanted to take a big step for the brand and show up in a way that we know will help to elevate us, and will help to connect with the consumers who we’re looking to bring into the fold of the brand.”
Tailored touchpoints and interactive chance encounters were also sprinkled throughout Anotherland. With 10 shows across two consumer-facing days, each with an audience of 25 attendees, Hendrick’s was able to balance scale and intimacy, allowing for about four to five guests per show to experience a one-on-one character interaction.
Among them: an encounter in a decked-out bathroom, where a performer invited the attendee to read a short script and play the part of a starlet while enjoying a Hendrick’s punch cocktail, and a personalized rooftop interaction with a famed “Sleep No More” actress over a white Negroni.
Finally, as the 90-minute experience came to a close, the cast pulled the audience back together on the ground floor and performed a lively choreographed dance that led to the big reveal moment for Another Hendrick’s. As the dance ended, the doors to the Apothecarium swung open, revealing a room draped in orange blossoms and cacao, and bottles lining every wall. As a final sendoff, participants enjoyed an Another Hendrick’s gin spritz.
CURATED CONTENT THAT EXTENDS REACH
To extend the reach of the Anotherland experience and give attendees the option to further personalize their journey, Hendrick’s incorporated Impulse technology into the event strategy. The tech allowed participants to opt in for real-time photo and video capture of themselves on-site during dedicated, staged moments, in addition to two camera people, who were integrated into the experience to capture the curated content.
Within 24 hours, the materials were packaged and delivered to participants as a suite of images and a ready-made reel.
WHAT’S NEXT
Coccodrilli says the brand is using the New York activation as the blueprint for producing the experience in other cities, but that future performances will have their own nuances.
“The U.S. team is using Anotherland as their base to activate three local launches, and they will be slightly different for smaller footprints and for different audiences,” she says. “But it’s great to see that we’ve taken this core campaign idea, and are now able to get even more people to experience Hendrick’s Anotherland… The team has definitely seen the excitement and aptitude that guests have to join us.” Agency: Gradient.
Photos: Courtesy of Hendrick’s Gin
