Cocktail Bar
A rebrand that put discovery on the menu.We helped All Bar One move away from an offers driven approach with a powerful new brand idea.
WE PARTNERED ON
Brand strategy, visual & verbal identity, print, brand campaigns, brand guardianship.
Brief
All Bar One had seen their once pioneering approach spawn a host of imitators, over-crowding a category they had created. Consumers no longer knew what All Bar One stood for. They came to us to help reposition the brand and return it to growth.
Strategy
We held workshops and interviews with everyone we could. We spent time with senior team members right through to front-of house staff, and spoke to both current and lapsed customers across a range of ages and attitudes.
One core truth came though time and time again. Customers wanted to experience the latest trends in food and drink, but they wanted All Bar One to make it easy to enjoy them with their friends. So our brand idea was born: Discover Together.
Visual identity
We introduced premium cues and refined typography to elevate the brand, while rationalising the colour palette. We introduced an element of discovery to the identity by collaborating with up and coming illustrators who had a story to tell.
In-bar activation
Discover Together has two key principles: every touchpoint must foster a discovery, and it must have a social element at its heart. A new menu format featured ‘discovery items’ that encouraged guests to step a little outside their comfort zone. In-bar activations focussed on shared learning experiences such as group cocktail masterclasses and wine tasting.
Moving from offers to campaigns
We helped All Bar One move away from a offers-based approach to focus on building the brand. We launched breakfast in All Bar One by encouraging guests to Rediscover Breakfast as a social occasion, and we collaborated with a ‘Flirtologist’ to create a series of Flirting Workshops for a Valentine’s campaign.
Out of home advertising encouraged guests to re-evaluate All Bar One by showcasing exciting dishes alongside a discovery message.
Outcome
In the year following the repositioning, All Bar One returned to growth, both in terms of sales and new openings. The brand has also seen a significant uplift in its internal brand measures, and our work is used to demonstrate best practice amongst the other Mitchell & Butlers brands.
