The Brief

One of our first bookings since setting up in the beginning of the year was for the beer brand Peroni. The enquiry came to us through Neon Agency, one of Ireland’s leading events and activation agencies, who were looking to bring the “House of Peroni” concept to Dublin for the first time.

Spread across two sunny weekends at the end of May (well timed!) the campaign centered on the theme of ‘Amare L’Italia’ (For the Love of Italy) and through a combination of food, drink, and entertainment, the residency aimed to showcase all that is great about Italy in an immersive dining experience. After previous successful incarnations in both London and Amsterdam, Dublin was finally ready to experience all that is great about Italian culture.

Peroni, is the quintessential premium Italian beer. Forget about your heavy, German lager, or your hoppy British ales, Peroni is a crisp and refreshing beer, offering an air of Italian sophistication, to an otherwise unrefined marketplace. The brand personifies the Italian passion for life, authenticity and quality. Neon were tasked with bringing both these characteristics to life, and, finding a suitable location for the campaign.

Italian Sophistication & Ice Cold Coolness
Event curation has become the holy grail for brands in recent times, as they seek to align themselves with the emotion, ideology, and buzz generated by these shin digs. The aim of the game is to create an event which is masked in the cultural narrative and can perpetuate the brand offering. The House Of Peroni narrative involved showcasing all that is great about the Italian dining experience and how Peroni is an integral component of this. Peroni is aimed at the 25-35 year old ‘ambitious socials’ category, and seeks to make itself a lifestyle choice for urban trendsetters who are just starting to establish themselves. The ‘House Of Peroni’ event was a perfect way for Peroni to position itself as ‘the coolest drinks brand’in the minds of consumers.

This process involves identifying the sources of authentic coolness in the cultural sphere, be that cool places, people, or art, linking your brand or product to these in an mutually compatible way, with the result that over time you get a transfer of meaning from that sphere to your brand.

What Makes a Brand Cool?

Location

After the success of House of Peroni London, Neon were tasked with finding a similarly exclusive, unique location in Dublin’s city centre for the house of Peroni residency. Our unique space on Dame Lane immediately sprang to mind. Situated a short 5 minute walk from Grafton Street- Dublin’s main thoroughfare, Dame lane is a 1,346 sq foot of prime retail space spread across 3 floors with a high end look and feel, complete with Wi-Fi, and a convertible car park! The area is known as Dame District and is a hotbed for creatives, boutique cafes, specialty coffees shops, fashion outlets and the capitals movers and shakers.

People

The House of Peroni concept was all about showcasing some of Ireland and Italy’s most innovative and creative talents. From chefs and mixologists to fashion designers, Peroni left nothing to the imagination in hand-picking a selection of creatives to showcase their talents. Michelin starred chefs Luciano Tona and Ross Lewis (proprietors of Osteria Lucio ) took over the kitchen for proceedings while Peroni brand ambassador and top Dublin mixologist Federico Rizzo lead the mixology team, creating a tasty menu of cocktails with Peroni’s very own Nastro Azzurro as the secret ingredient (beer in cocktails, don’t mind if i do!)

Exclusivity

Though open to the public, The House of Peroni also ran a couple of exclusive, ticketed only events during its two week residency. These events provided attendees with exclusive access to the wares of the talented curators, and insider knowledge about consumption practices and commodities.

Ritual & Creativity

Through the creation of Peroni Nastro Azzurro infused cocktails, Federico Rizzo, has cloaked the Peroni product in ritual and invented tradition, in a type of esoteric form of consumption. The event was spread across several floors and featured innovative bars, creative spaces and a car park converted to a glamorous rooftop terrace for Al fresco drinking and dining! This type of innovative and novel experience went down as a treat with the crowd, with Instagrammable moments popping up all over the place!

Conclusion

The campaign was a great success for both Neon & Peroni, and really showed how creative a brand can be with the right concept, the right space and the right people. The sensory experience enabled the brand to target their audience and create a buzz. By focusing on creating the opportunity for consumers to interact with the brand in a new light, experiential marketing is a brilliant way to bring your brand to life in a creative and lasting manner. Who would’ve thought a beer infused cocktail could taste so amazing!

It was a pleasure for us to get the opportunity to work with the activation agency Neon. We were blown away by how they were able to take a plain, vacant space, and transform it into such a magical experience for the Peroni brand. Given the success of this campaign, we hope to be able to provide both themselves and other agencies with unique spaces to showcase their clients brands.

Shoot us an email at hello@popertee.com to enquire how Popertee can help connect you with your perfect space! Start searching for your perfect Popertee today!