What can you accomplish by turning Manchester pink?
The Media Plan
Driving buzz around an event can be a challenge, especially if its branded. That is true even for glamorous galas, like the one Tequila Rose put on in Manchester last month.
The Pink Gala was the first of its kind for the liqueur brand — a glam event hosted by Loose Women presenter GK Barry which brought together a mix of celebrities, fashion, and music, with 250 guests in attendance.
Getting interested parties to come out — and designing a media plan that could drive and capitalise on the buzz — was a strategic challenge assigned to independent media agency Bountiful Cow.
Targeting Manchester’s party scene
Emma Deacon, Bountiful Cow’s business director, told The Media Leader the goal of the plan was to create interest for the event as well as “create significant fame” for Tequila Rose.
“As a challenger brand we needed to carve out a distinctive path to growth, where Tequila Rose could dominate away from competitor brands,” she said.
In accordance with Bountiful Cow’s “Relative Advantage” growth model, Deacon noted they could make the marketing budget stretch further by focusing on Tequila Rose’s core audience outside of London.
Based on a brand-insight study, Tequila Rose’s target audience was understood to be young adults “seeking excitement in their lives” — over-indexing in music listening and partaking in the party scene, which is historically lively in Manchester.
“By avoiding the capital and focusing our spend on another city well-known for its vibrant nightlife — Manchester, we could really maximise our presence,” Deacon explained. “We could run their summer-ending party with a great deal of noise, and a level of visibility that couldn’t be ignored.”
To that end, Bountiful Cow built anticipation for the event using social media, YouTube, on-trade and on-pack promotional material, and a radio partnership with Gaydio in Manchester to help drive Tequila Rose sales and give away tickets to the event to brand fans.
Using projections to capture audience in the moment
And most notably, on the night of the gala, the agency helped turn Manchester pink through an out-of-home takeover, including the use of projections on bar fronts, shopping centres and streets in nightlife hotspots.
Bountiful Cow used Tequila Rose sales data and first-party data via media digital OOH media partners to quantify popular party areas in Manchester.
“The projections captured the audience in the perfect moment, amplifying the Pink Gala,” said Deacon.
The agency partnered with Pixel Artworks, who managed the OOH project by getting clearance from local authorities to set up projections. Democracy PR, meanwhile, was employed to aid in social media promotion.
“The partnership with Pixel Artworks allowed us to take over the city in a unique way, with bold, pink projections in areas where traditional billboards couldn’t reach, ensuring that our message—and our colour—dominated,” said Deacon.
She elaborated: “To connect with the brand’s core audience, we used a channel mix to build momentum and keep the brand front and centre before, during, and after the Gala. The media plan worked by leaning into what the audience already loves—fashion, nightlife, and social media—while integrating digital channels like OOH, radio, and social content to engage them throughout their day.”
