LCBO's comprehensive approach to events integrates in-store customer education, media and product launches, consumer promotions, and sponsorship. Marketing manager Kelly Taylor has her finger on the control.
What she plans:
Taylor oversaw more than 1,100 events for the LCBO in 2005, including in-store consumer wine tasting and cooking classes, private gatherings in the LCBO event kitchens, and the company's annual all-managers conference for more than 600 guests.
Career Path:
Taylor joined the LCBO 17 years ago at the age of 19. She began in retail and moved into marketing six years later. Soon afterwards, she began working on special events. As the LCBO expanded its focus on events, her role grew in importance, and she rose up in the company to her current position as marketing manager.
Favourite cocktail: This past summer: the plush cocktail, a mix with Grand Marnier.
Favourite meal: A really good steak.
What has been your greatest challenge as marketing manager?
We've become very good at delivering events for our customers, so we now have many more requests for events, including private events. As a result, the biggest challenge is juggling multiple events at the same time.
What types of events take place off-site?
Vintages (LCBO's premium wine and spirits department) hosts premium events that require very refined venues like Carlu. The recent Vintages Auction and Gala was held there. We've also launched cocktail promotions off-site, but we've recently been more store-based with these events.
Dressing up an event with decor is a standard in this industry, even if just for branding purposes. How do you create an ambiance for off-site events?
We have an amazing visual merchandising team. They specialize in decor and design and come up with beautiful, timely event concepts. They're up on all the current industry trends, including current colour palettes and textures. They support us in every way possible.
Whisky Generation is an annual event that exemplifies artful branding and celebrity/musical content. How do you package these components?
We created this event, which takes place in 40 locations across the province, to introduce whisky to a new, younger generation. We've worked with the Martini Club in Toronto and come up with fabulous cocktails made with whisky that people never thought could work. Last year, we brought in singer Tara Slone (one of the competitors on Rock Star INXS) as the musical component. She was perfect because she fit the tone and manner of the promotion. As well as appearing at the event, she made appearances at several retail locations.
What is the largest event that the LCBO produces each year?
Our all-managers' conference. It brings together about 600 people from our stores and head office for two days. We focus on new strategic goals, with lots of educational sessions and presentations.
What are your feelings about hosting parties given the industry you are in?
Parties is a word we don't tend to use. There's a lot of political sensitivity around it. We really don't throw them, and we don't advocate big crazy parties because we feel it's important to be socially responsible. If anything, we do dinners and wine with an educational element, like introducing a new Ontario wine.
What LCBO products lend themselves to events and what is the best time of year?
We've been successful with our spirit and cocktail promotions; early summer is usually best.
When you're launching a product, how do you decide whether to do a media event?
We need to know our key goals with each product. If it is to get buzz, then we need a media event. Media events can have entertainment elements like celebrity appearances. For example, when we launched Patron tequila, Dan Akroyd, who is a part owner, was a part of the launch. That was a fitting celebrity tie-in. A product needs to be pretty spectacular for us to do a media event.
What was your most memorable celebrity event and who was it with?
At one time I was a big Ottawa Senators fan, and we had a promotion with the Senators, so it was really fun meeting Jacques Martin, the head coach at the time. The promotion was very educational and involved cooking. It was called Cook with the Coach.
When you do in-store product promotions, what is your goal?
The LCBO's focus is on education rather than mass consumption; we try to encourage social responsibility, to teach customers about how drinks work with food, etc.
LCBO's Food & Drink magazine has become very popular. Does the magazine work in collaboration with your events department?
At one time, we used to go through the editorial before the magazine was published to align events in our kitchens with the articles. Also, the magazine?s advertisers sometimes approach us about doing events to enhance the reach of their ads. For example, we worked with Dr. Oetker to connect his product with a great Italian wine product, and then we sampled the wine and Dr. Oetker pizza in our event kitchens.
What she plans:
Taylor oversaw more than 1,100 events for the LCBO in 2005, including in-store consumer wine tasting and cooking classes, private gatherings in the LCBO event kitchens, and the company's annual all-managers conference for more than 600 guests.
Career Path:
Taylor joined the LCBO 17 years ago at the age of 19. She began in retail and moved into marketing six years later. Soon afterwards, she began working on special events. As the LCBO expanded its focus on events, her role grew in importance, and she rose up in the company to her current position as marketing manager.
Favourite cocktail: This past summer: the plush cocktail, a mix with Grand Marnier.
Favourite meal: A really good steak.
What has been your greatest challenge as marketing manager?
We've become very good at delivering events for our customers, so we now have many more requests for events, including private events. As a result, the biggest challenge is juggling multiple events at the same time.
What types of events take place off-site?
Vintages (LCBO's premium wine and spirits department) hosts premium events that require very refined venues like Carlu. The recent Vintages Auction and Gala was held there. We've also launched cocktail promotions off-site, but we've recently been more store-based with these events.
Dressing up an event with decor is a standard in this industry, even if just for branding purposes. How do you create an ambiance for off-site events?
We have an amazing visual merchandising team. They specialize in decor and design and come up with beautiful, timely event concepts. They're up on all the current industry trends, including current colour palettes and textures. They support us in every way possible.
Whisky Generation is an annual event that exemplifies artful branding and celebrity/musical content. How do you package these components?
We created this event, which takes place in 40 locations across the province, to introduce whisky to a new, younger generation. We've worked with the Martini Club in Toronto and come up with fabulous cocktails made with whisky that people never thought could work. Last year, we brought in singer Tara Slone (one of the competitors on Rock Star INXS) as the musical component. She was perfect because she fit the tone and manner of the promotion. As well as appearing at the event, she made appearances at several retail locations.
What is the largest event that the LCBO produces each year?
Our all-managers' conference. It brings together about 600 people from our stores and head office for two days. We focus on new strategic goals, with lots of educational sessions and presentations.
What are your feelings about hosting parties given the industry you are in?
Parties is a word we don't tend to use. There's a lot of political sensitivity around it. We really don't throw them, and we don't advocate big crazy parties because we feel it's important to be socially responsible. If anything, we do dinners and wine with an educational element, like introducing a new Ontario wine.
What LCBO products lend themselves to events and what is the best time of year?
We've been successful with our spirit and cocktail promotions; early summer is usually best.
When you're launching a product, how do you decide whether to do a media event?
We need to know our key goals with each product. If it is to get buzz, then we need a media event. Media events can have entertainment elements like celebrity appearances. For example, when we launched Patron tequila, Dan Akroyd, who is a part owner, was a part of the launch. That was a fitting celebrity tie-in. A product needs to be pretty spectacular for us to do a media event.
What was your most memorable celebrity event and who was it with?
At one time I was a big Ottawa Senators fan, and we had a promotion with the Senators, so it was really fun meeting Jacques Martin, the head coach at the time. The promotion was very educational and involved cooking. It was called Cook with the Coach.
When you do in-store product promotions, what is your goal?
The LCBO's focus is on education rather than mass consumption; we try to encourage social responsibility, to teach customers about how drinks work with food, etc.
LCBO's Food & Drink magazine has become very popular. Does the magazine work in collaboration with your events department?
At one time, we used to go through the editorial before the magazine was published to align events in our kitchens with the articles. Also, the magazine?s advertisers sometimes approach us about doing events to enhance the reach of their ads. For example, we worked with Dr. Oetker to connect his product with a great Italian wine product, and then we sampled the wine and Dr. Oetker pizza in our event kitchens.
