Skip to contentLaunching a Crown Jewel
The Brief
Beefeater Gin tasked Pangolin to launch its most premium gin to date: Beefeater Crown Jewel.
After a 10-year hiatus, the brand that embodies the spirit of London had reimagined its premium gin to become an elevated, modern version of the original, inspired by the iconic jewels housed in the Tower of London.
To launch the product, Beefeater wanted to bring to life the essence of Crown Jewel – a clash of the modern and traditional – via a creative launch campaign to cement it as the most sought-after and precious liquid to date.
The Insight
Our creative strategy needed to reflect the exclusivity of the product and help position Beefeater Crown Jewel as a rare gem in the spirit world. We also wanted to create a sense of mystery around the product, and drive genuine intrigue from influential luxury and lifestyle journalists and influencers. And what better way to do that than host an exclusive after-hours premiere event at the home of the Crown Jewels, the Tower of London.
With the venue locked, we needed a bigger creative hook, something that would drive excitement from the moment guests received an invite.
The solution: Key to the Jewel.
Not only are keys used around the world as an iconic symbol of authority and power, representing knowledge and access, they are also at the heart of the Tower of London tradition with the “Ceremony of the Keys” still happening today.
The “Key to the Jewel” would act as the red thread throughout the launch, helping guests unlock unforgettable moments along the way.
The Creative
The Crown Jewel product launch was based on 2 key phases:
Phase 1 – ‘Key to the Jewel’ Event: world premiere tasting experience at the Tower of London, including:
To bring the clash of modern versus traditional to life, we created a bespoke invitation featuring a personalised digital key card – a modern twist on the traditional key you would expect at the Tower of London. The intrigue for guests was already building…what did the key open?
Guests were instructed to bring the key card with them on the night to unlock a range of unique content and experiences.
We wanted guests to feel special from the moment they stepped foot through the gates. And only those with the key could gain access to the tower. Once presented, their personal key card unveiled a personal welcome message and unlocked their first cocktail made from Crown Jewel. This was followed with a private, after-hours tour of the Crown Jewels. As guests then moved through to the welcome reception, they were met by a Martini Tableau – an interactive table dress worn by a performer. Here guests tapped their key card to access one of two cocktails created by brand ambassadors and world’s best bartenders: Ryan Chetiyawardana and Alessandro Palazzi.
Working with caterers we curated a luxurious three course dinner which took inspiration from the tasting notes in Beefeater Crown Jewel. To end the evening on a high, we developed an interactive gifting experience: a bespoke vault structure to house a wall of Beefeater Crown Jewel. Each compartment in the vault required a final key code that allowed guests to unlock a padlock to access their personalised bottle.
Phase 2 – Gifting & Product Placement: targeted outreach to drive wider coverage and product reviews to maintain momentum, including:
We designed and developed prestigious gift boxes in the same unique gem shape of the bottle, weaving our creative key concept in through the design. Sent to select journalists and influencers, once the gift box was unlocked, the bottle was accessible.
We also crafted a Christmas gifting press release to target long, mid and short lead titles, shared with targeted luxury media outlets whose audience would resonate with the product.
The Results
The Key to the Jewel campaign resulted in mass coverage across top tier, luxury titles, and exceeded KPIs. For the overall event, we had clear KPIs against event attendees, product placement, social media coverage and talent interviews, which we over delivered on:
Event Attendees
• 24 top-tier media including The Times, Bloomberg, and Forbes (KPI: 20-30)
• 22 influencers – non-paid (KPI: 20-30)
Talkability
• 206 pieces of organic social content with 100% positive sentiment (201 landed within the event week and over delivered on our KPI by 587%
• 43 pieces of luxury product placement including Forbes, Robb Report and Delish (incl. 100% positive sentiment, purchase link inclusion & key image inclusion)
• 101+ million reach
- Secured
46
event attendees - Over
206 pieces
of organic social content - Achieved
43 pieces
of luxury product placement
“The launch of Beefeater Crown Jewel was pivotal moment for the brand. From bringing the product to life throughout the event and securing top tier attendees, to achieving mass coverage in our key titles, Pangolin delivered exceptional results.”