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CHARLES ORCHARD: THE BEST MARKETING CAMPAGINS OF DRY JANUARY
We sat down with Junior Account Executive Charles Orchard to find out how brands have used Dry January to promote their unique message.
DRY
JANUARY
JANUARY 2023
THE BEST MARKETING
CAMPAIGNS OF
DRY JANUARY
BY CHARLES ORCHARD
We sat down with Junior Account Executive Charles Orchard to find out how brands have used Dry January to promote their unique message.
It’s no secret that an increasing number of British people are choosing to partake in Dry January, where adults refrain from drinking alcohol for the entirety of the first month of the calendar year after the Christmas party season.
In fact, recent research suggests that up to one in seven UK adults – a figure as high as 8.8 million people – planned to take part in this year’s effort. That’s a huge slice of the British public that can be capitalised on if they choose to save money on booze for 31 days.
Below are some of the best marketing campaigns and product placements for Dry January this year.
Ceder’s – ‘January. It’s anything But Dry’
Multi award-winning non-alcoholic spirits company Ceder’s have embraced a light-hearted approach to their Dry January campaign, encouraging consumers to take a break from alcohol without leaving the fun from some of their favourite cocktails behind. The advert, titled ‘January. It’s anything But Dry’, aims to drive the message of embracing January to the fullest and make the most of every moment.
The humorous video seeks to contradict the usual depiction of January – namely cold weather and short days – by portraying a smiling couple on a sunny beach drinking cocktails. This however turns out to be a fallacy, with the fake 2D sunny background dropping to the ground to reveal a dark and windy storm on a grey beach. The couple, however, remain in high spirits, as text appears on the screen to read: “Make January anything but dry”.
The campaign does commendably to try and sell this alternative perception of January of spending time with friends and family in a positive fashion, to make the most of dreary and sometimes depressing days in the peak of the British winter. It’s ambitious in the sense that it could completely hit the wrong note – but there’s enough eloquence to avoid being presumptuous or insensitive.
Club Soda’s Alcohol-Free Tasting Room
Club Soda frames itself as a ‘social impact business’ – committing to helping people drink mindfully and live well. Indeed, the company operates as a B Corp-certified business, meaning it legally must demonstrate a social impact.
Such is their commitment to this cause that Club Soda and their founder, Laura Willoughby, have this January opened what they claim to be Britain’s first non-alcoholic tasting room in Drury Lane, London. The company set up a Crowdfunder in October to help finance their launch, with over £20,000 being raised by endearing members of the public.
The Tasting Room includes rooms for events, workshops and masterclasses, and is a goldmine for alcohol-free brands to promote their labels within an expansive alcohol-free product range – rumoured to be north of 150 in-store. The shop is staffed with knowledgeable assistants and mixologists and marries passion and enthusiasm for those looking to better their relationship with booze.
And so our Tasting Room Shop is open! Alcohol-free beers, wines, spirits, cocktails, with more to come in the next couple of weeks... Come see us at 39 Drury Lane, London WC2B 5RR. pic.twitter.com/JjOJgCBFam
— Club Soda (@joinclubsoda) November 25, 2022
Backyard Comedy Club – Sober IS Fun
Comedy often feels unavoidably linked with booze, so it’s refreshing to see a comedy night embracing the daring suggestion that people can have a laugh without getting smashed.
That’s exactly what Backyard Comedy Club in Bethnal Green, London have adopted for one night only on 22nd January – the same week when, statistically, most people tend to cave in to their desire for a drink. The club claim to be the UK’s first alcohol-free professional comedy club and even offer table tennis, pool and table football just in case the sober comedy turns out to be unfunnier than a Russell Howard act.
The broader elements of their show is to encourage people to embrace a sober and healthier lifestyle by not feeling the need to consume alcohol for activities as common and frequent as laughing at a joke. They claim the atmosphere will be more authentic and more rewarding to the acts if the audience and comedians alike aren’t always under the influence.
Tito’s DIY January with Martha Stewart
Texas-based vodka brand Tito’s have absolutely nailed it here. Instead of cowering during what is likely a slow month for booze sales, Tito’s have teamed up with American TV personality Martha Stewart to produce a hilarious ‘DIY’ January commercial, suggesting some creative and imaginative ways customers can use their vodka bottles instead of “just staring at it”.
Some of the inventive suggestions include Stewart pouring an eye-opening amount of vodka into a pasta sauce for “a little extra kick’, splashing her in-house flowers to “keep them in bloom” and make them “smell like February”, and tenderising a large slab of beef with a huge 1.5 litre bottle of Tito’s. Stewart humorously retains a look of frustration throughout the commercial, implying she’d much rather be putting the vodka to an alternative use.
It's an amusing campaign with a simple yet clever bit of word play – switching the R in ‘dry’ for an I – and portrays the light-hearted approach these alcohol brands can take in order to keep customers onside during the first month of the year. A quick visit to the Tito’s website also includes a humorous blurb next to their commercial – clarifying that “We can’t guarantee the outcome of these DIY uses for Tito’s - they are legally non-binding because this is a joke and we’re a vodka brand.”