Consumers are growing weary of the gifting culture between brands and influencers, so 818 Tequila decided to buck the trend while capitalizing on another. Serving up its own branded wedding moment, the brand surprised its biggest fans, rather than influencers, with complimentary bars and gifts for their weddings and bachelorette parties.
As part of its annual 8/18 Day, the Kendall Jenner-founded brand reached out to its Happy Hour community to see if any members were planning weddings around the August holiday. After receiving more than 220 submissions on its opt-in Instagram Broadcast Channel, 818 selected 10 community members to receive an elevated brand experience for their celebrations.
“We’ve been wanting to tap into weddings for a while because it is such a natural fit for an alcohol brand, but we wanted to do it in a way that felt true and genuine, enhancing the celebration,” says Jenny Brown, 818 Tequila’s executive creative director. “That’s also one of the reasons why we wanted to pivot to community members versus influencers, to deepen their connection with us and our connection with them.”
For two couples whose weddings took place last weekend, 818 provided a branded tequila bar with a custom cocktail menu chosen from the brand’s signature lineup, branded napkins and stir sticks, professional photography and personalized touches, like bridal pieces from partner brand phe phe.
“For one of the weddings, they used our mini [bottles] as the table number finder—‘Take a shot and take your seat’—so we had a whole bookshelf of the minis with the table numbers listed,” Brown says. “That was a fun personal element for that bride who came to us with that idea, and we were like, ‘Yes, absolutely.’”
On the bachelorette side, 818 curated gift bundles for the lucky brides and their bridal party, drawing on the popular influencer trend of popping up gifting suites at their weekend gatherings. The packages included 818 mini bottles, branded barware and merchandise, custom toiletry kits and totes embroidered with the brides’ and bridesmaids’ names, custom disposable cameras, trucker hats, weekend essentials, and pajamas from Paige DeSorbo’s Daphne lounge line.
The brand worked with the brides to ensure each experience was tailored to fit their wedding vision and integrated seamlessly. 818 looked at their mood boards, talked with their wedding planners, connected the brand’s photographer with the wedding’s photographer, and made sure their bar teams had the right ingredients for the cocktails.
After five 8/18 Day celebrations that have spanned launch parties, dinner experiences and a trip to London, the brand lifted tactics from its influencer playbook to reward community members who “are so genuinely excited and grateful to be in communication directly with a brand,” Brown says. There was no contract or expectation for them to post about the campaign giveaways, but the content came organically.
“The little touchpoints all together are what make people want to share it, whether it’s a logo on a napkin or a matchbook, versus maybe a big photo moment like a step-and-repeat,” she says. “The culmination of all the little moments makes the magical experience, especially when you’re integrating into someone’s special day.”
A final facet of 8/18 Day, the brand partnered with luxury jeweler Ring Concierge to launch a giveaway on Instagram to treat one winner to a pair of 3-carat Round Lab Diamond Studs and up to seven pairs of 1-carat Lab Diamond Studs for their bridal party, as well as 818 hats, totes and swag signed by Jenner herself.
The wedding campaign continues to build on 818’s growing community-driven initiatives, like its first IRL Community Channel event—pizza-making for Galentine’s Day in New York City—“Cheersgiving” dinners around the holiday season and an upcoming college campus tailgating activation.
