“Welcome back!” This is the prevailing sentiment, so exuberantly expressed, by bars and restaurants throughout this great nation.
Whether or not end-users (patrons) drink alcoholic beverages, enjoying conviviality and kinship at a bar is, without a doubt, an activity that releases us all from stress.
Trends in barware are well-described by Derek Brown, writing in sevenfiftydaily.com (“6 Barware Trends Predicted by Bar Suppliers”): “The bar world has come a long way from the days of industrially produced cocktail spoons with red plastic tips and cheap shaking tins that fused together when shaken with ice. Now the environmental impact of barware is being debated, glassware is catching up to pop culture, bar tools are being influenced by historical antecedents, premium bar tools are everywhere (as are signature lines from bartenders), and the technique of smoking drinks is becoming available to laypeople.”
Bar industry representatives pointed to tiki and novelty glassware and barware that recalls the 50s 60s and 70s are hot, evoking mid-century cocktail culture; premium barware such as copper-plated and sleek stainless-steel tools, and the growth of smoked cocktails.
Bar clients can host fun events such as the evergreen Ladies’ Nights, Karaoke Nights and Trivia Nights, but they can also create a beer or wine club program with rewards. For example, describes Karen Garces in her article “12 Proven Bar Promotion Ideas You Must Try in 2020” (Penji.co), for a Beer Club Rewards program: Signups receives a beer koozie; reaching 50 beers receives a bottle opener and a $10 gift card; 100 receives a baseball cap and a 20-oz. dimpled mug; 250 receives a moleskin journal, T-shirt and $20 gift card; 350 receives a zip hoodie, 500 nets a party with friends and a subscription to The Beer Advocate; and more expensive logoed items as the number of beers increase.
Prizes for Bar Olympics is another fun, convivially competitive event that includes flip cup, beer pong, cornhole, and other games. Money raised can go to a local charity, and winners, of course, can receive any of a plethora of logoed items, such as beer glasses, tank tops, bottle openers, koozies, mugs, headwear, ice buckets, and more.
The pandemic-required quarantining has left a new indelible mark on “cocktailing” – because it taught many consumers how to make novel drinks at home. For example, Pratt Standard Cocktail Company founder Tory Pratt told Kyle Swartz, author of “Top Trends in Cocktail Mixers and Barware in 2021” for Cheersoline.com (March 31, 2021), “launched virtual cocktail classes and taught over 15,000 people last year how to make cocktails at home.”
And as more events and gatherings are resuming, your bar clients may be persuaded to host a dart league and/or sponsor a softball team, which can include inviting the team to the bar after a game and provide special league promotions.
This represents a new avenue of barware promotions for your clients. From shot glasses to tankards, bottle openers, coasters, koozies, bar accessories and bartender kits, many non-bar clients can get into the “cheers” act. When customers sign an auto or apartment lease, or open a new bank account, and for corporate stores and board of directors meetings, all are perfect occasions for gifting with barware that people can take home.
As summer is set to take center stage, people are looking forward to celebrating, from graduations to weddings to July 4th – and every day in between. Life is opening back up and the spirit of indulgence has never been so widespread – whether at the bar or brewery, or at home, promotional barware will be used time and again.