Henrdick's Masked Ball

Just spotted this on Londonist:

"For those of you in London this Easter weekend, there's a treat for you. Oh yes.

Good Friday will indeed by very good because that's the evening of the Hendrick's Spring Masked Ball, a most glorious night of gin-flavoured hedonism, elaborate costume and fantastic facewear. Organised by the decadent chaps of The Last Tuesday Society, we know from their reputation at previous balls that this is going to be rather fabulous and as well as an intriguing musical line up of DJs and the frankly disturbing Punch & Judy show, there will also be the chance to...

"...Gorge Yourselves at Suzette Field's Famous Cheeseboard, Viktor Wynd's Midnight Feast of Yesterdays Cakes & The Fruits of Ridley Road & Their Chocolate Fountain

Detox Whilst You Tox as Martin Ahearne Brings The Little Organic Juicebar from Upper Street and helps you juice the surrounding fruit and vegetables and mix them with Mother's Ruin

Amuse Yourselves With the Broken Toys of Dalston Oxfam Shop & Their Preplayed Games"

So leave that full face zip-up gimp mask at home and wear something with room to sip a gin cocktail and nibble one of yesterday's cakes. It never suited you anyway. Apart from obligatory masks, the dress code is opulence, ball gowns and 'fancy' and prizes will be given out for the best dressed people, the most virginal smile and the greatest mask. Rah. See you there?

Hendrick's Masked Spring Ball, Arts Theatre (Covent Garden), Friday 21 March. Tickets are £12 in advance or £15 on the door, £50 for a family ticket for 5 in advance only. For more information and to book, go here."

What's great about this is that the event is very Henrdicks. It's niche. It's interesting. It's surprising. And they're doing brilliantly to sell tickets to the event and get publicity as a result. The readers of Londonist have all been exposed to a cool piece of Hendrick's activity. And at very low cost.

Reyka Vodka - Charming Design

From NotCot:

Reyka Vodka looks amazing and comes with the most charming, engaging packaging and advertising campaign reminiscent of Hendricks and 42 Below.

"Reyka Vodka ~ from iceland ~ their ads on youtube have had me in stitches all morning (watch them all below). Her voice and outfit are ADORABLE… in a hilariously cute kind of way… and the black and white sketchy animated world she exists in is just brilliant. And her poignant arguments make me giggle too much this morning. So, while i can’t say anything about how good the vodka is, the ads certainly make me want to try some… gorgeous bottle as well. Check out their website here, its got some pretty woodblock style graphics."









Each bottle has a different story:







Quite brilliantly the website links to the Icelandic Penis Museum which made us all laugh... some great specimens in there including one with a bottle of Crown Royal inside it!





Crown Royal Penis:

Great article on Hendrick's gin

Brief extract from the excellent adliterate blog:

"Stop brushing the 'mother's ruin' heritage under the shag pile but embrace it with the ferocity of a dog on heat. Wallow in the debauched world of 18th century London whose 17,000 gin houses were rapidly sending the capital to the dogs. In particular design your bottle to look like something straight out of Hogarth's Gin Lane. This will give you stand out on the back bar, curiosity value and a way in to a wonderfully rich visual language.

Wrap this counter category approach up in a personality that revels in the unusualness of the product - maybe publishing your own newspaper, holding an annual Chap Olympiad, encouraging bartenders to play croquet or providing rushed commuters with momentary relief."

For the rest of the post click here and explore the links.



It's a great case study of how to launch a brand into a stagnant market and highlights that using the internet in the spirit of the brand is a very powerful tool. What I like most is their use of well thought out merchandise that people actually want in their lives. This brand has Ooze written all over it.