To re-introduce one of China’s oldest spirits brands to the Chinese-American market, we served up an immersive liquor brand activation experience — with just a little over a month to launch.
Key Events partnered with one of China’s leading PR firms to provide end-to-end event management for the brand launch of Kweichow Moutai, which Forbes recently named “the world’s most valuable liquor brand.”
With $5.8B in annual revenues, Moutai had recently overtaken the market becoming the world’s most valuable alcoholic beverage company and now sought to engage with a new audience and gain a competitive advantage in a new market.
Making its debut at the World’s Fair in 1915, the Chinese spirit has a rich history in San Francisco as a symbol for global unity.
Today, young Chinese professionals love the beverage — which was part of the brand’s challenge, as Moutai’s leaders sought to diversify in order to grow beyond the Chinese market and being the 2nd largest population outside Mainland China.
By 2016, the brand needed to identify and engage a North American audience of “igniters” — those first to try, buy, and amplify, who are contemporary but still treasure Chinese tradition and could quickly become Moutai spirit fans and advocates.
Our diverse audience also included journalists from both the U.S. and Mainland China, along with local dignitaries and social influencers.
To meet the brand’s launch objectives of engaging influencers and potential brand ambassadors to drive awareness, we needed to create an experience for San Francisco-based Chinese-Americans that would thematically bridge the gap between continents, bringing the history of Moutai to life.