Eden Mill gin bar team serving shoppers at a black branded pop-up bar inside a Debenhams store

Case study · Craft spirits and drinks

Eden Mill Gin Bars at Debenhams 1,250 Shifts | 40 Debenhams Stores

The story in brief

Eden Mill brought its Scottish gin into 40 Debenhams stores across the UK over the festive period. Our teams ran 1,250 shifts on bespoke pop-up gin bars, sampling the gin, serving freshly prepared drinks and selling bottles and gift sets, with one nationwide team managed from our office around the clock.

Client: Eden Mill
Sector: Craft spirits and drinks
Format: In-store pop-up bars and sampling
City: 40 UK stores
Venue: Debenhams stores
Staff type: Product sampling staff, Promotional staff

1,250Shifts

40Debenhams stores

70+Staff trained together

The brief

Eden Mill wanted to create the ultimate gin experience in Debenhams over the festive period, in 40 stores across the UK.

The brief had three parts: sample the gin, sell freshly prepared drinks at the bar, and upsell the range of bottles and gift sets. Every store had to offer shoppers the same festive, immersive tasting, and every conversation had to carry the brand's Scottish heritage.

Customers seated at the Eden Mill pop-up gin bar with a Scottish Gin of the Year sign and gin and tonic on the counter

The pop-up bars

We staffed a bespoke pop-up gin bar inside each store, run by our product sampling and promotional staff teams.

Each bar worked as a tasting counter, a drinks bar and a gift counter in one. Shoppers sampled the gin, bought a freshly prepared drink, and were shown the bottles and gift sets to take home.

Eden Mill gin bottles on a shelf behind a board of freshly prepared gin drinks garnished with lime and herbs

The team and training

Before launch we held a bespoke training day for more than 70 staff. It covered payment processing, Eden Mill's history, gin mixing techniques and the campaign objectives, so every bar ran the same way across the network.

Staff were briefed to act as storytellers, explaining to shoppers the Scottish heritage of Eden Mill gin and what makes it different.

Some stores required a licensed staff member eligible to hold a Temporary Event Notice (TEN). We made sure one was in place wherever a store asked for it, and we managed the whole nationwide team from the first shift to the last of the 1,250.

Support across the festive period

The gin experience ran for a month across the Debenhams network. Our office stayed open around the clock, including over the Christmas break, to answer client and store requests and sort out in-store issues.

Head office staff also visited several stores during the campaign to monitor the bars and support the teams on the shop floor.

How it ran

Scale: forty stores, 1,250 shifts and more than 70 staff, all telling the same Eden Mill story at the bar.
Sampling: tastings of Eden Mill gin offered to shoppers at every bar.
Sales: freshly prepared gin drinks served and sold at the bar.
Upselling: shoppers shown the range of bottles and gift sets.
Storytelling: Eden Mill's Scottish heritage shared in every conversation.
Licensing: a staff member eligible to hold a TEN in the stores that needed one.
Support: 24/7 office cover, Christmas break included, with head office visits to several stores.

Where it ran

40 UK stores

Debenhams stores, UK-wide

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Why Executional

2007Established
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