Slow Drinking

Objective

To communicate the main message: consume less but better.

To help consumers slow down and reduce excessive consumption by encouraging the art of taste.

To promote responsible, reasoned and respectful drinking and advise against binge drinking.

Description

Slow Drinking was launched in France in 2012 in response to the European slow movement, a cultural shift toward slowing down life’s pace and enjoying its pleasures. Applied to drinking alcohol, it transforms a simple drink into the art of tasting by giving priority to quality over quantity.

The campaign provides advice and information on responsible drinking and encourages measured and controlled consumption of alcoholic drinks. It promotes quality over quantity by emphasising perfectly measured drinks, drinking water to freshen the palate and always pairing drinks with food. It encourages consumers to rediscover pleasures packed with sensations, to think about tastes, to listen to their senses and to better satisfy them. It offers tips and guidance for celebrating moments that matter by taking the time to prepare, share, and savour one drink at a time.

Through its communication, Slow Drinking aims to be educational and benevolent, and hopes to transmit responsible habits for every festive occasion. The Slow Drinking motto is “take your time” and the main message is: “consume less but better”. Focussing on quality and slowness the campaign elevates the concept of mindful drinking.

Slow Drinking delivers responsible drinking messages all year long. Through social media and its website, it fosters a community of people who are interested in mindful drinking.

Website

The website first launched in France and Italy. It is now available in four languages (English, French, Italian and Spanish) reaches consumers in Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. It contains information promoting mindful consumption habits and a lifestyle that emphasises moderation. It has the following sections:

Discover:

The trend: About Slow Drinking
Test Yourself: Quiz so the visitor can check what kind of slow drinker they are
The Slow Drinkers’ Club: Slow drinking as seen by various celebrities

The experience:

Practice Slow Drinking: Making a slow drinker’s aperitif
10 tips: The 10 steps of slow drinking
Managing your consumption: Information on units, calories and recommended drinking limits
The language: Vocabulary relating to seeing, tasing and smelling an alcoholic drink
True or false: Popular misconceptions
Estimate your consumption

Cocktails:

All the recipes: Link to Bacardi site dedicated to cocktail recipes
Tips & Tricks: Making a drink better

Alcohol & You:

What are you drinking?: About what alcoholic beverages are
Responsible drinking: Effects of alcohol on the body and serving sizes
Alcohol & you: Short- and long-term effects of alcohol
When is drinking risky?: When not to drink

News: A news section

Social media (Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest)

Social media is used to engage with Bacardi’s consumers, customers, and partners the movement. The light-hearted social media content ranges from responsible drinking rules/tips to recipes for cocktails with and without alcohol, to food-pairing, but also informative posts on current events in terms of sustainability. Responsible drinking is in every post, whether explicit or implicit.

Other activities

In 2014, Slow Drinking offered coupons with suggestions for food pairings and placed health information on shelves at points of sale.

2014-2018, Bacardi in France hosted cocktail workshops to further advance the Slow Drinking principles. All participants received a jigger and recipe book for making perfectly measured cocktails.

In 2018, the campaign was activated in retail stores so that the Slow Drinking messaging could be found where consumers purchase Bacardi products.

Results

As of July 2024 there was:

Over 72,000 "likes" and 73,000 followers on Facebook.
Over 19,600 followers on Instagram.
32 followers on Pintrest.

In 2017, The Facebook page reached 2.4 million people, with around 27,000 likes and 78,400 engagements in total.
There were over 55,000 website sessions , and advertisements for “Slow Drinking” appeared in 200,000 “Le Parisien” cocktail bar guides and 126,000 copies of financial newspaper “Les Échos”.