REAL reached out to us after hearing on the grapevine (or should that be the tea plant?) that we’d be covering low-and-no for Dry January in OcadoLife. Editorial impartiality means we can never guarantee inclusion within product picks – but we saw a chance to showcase their award-winning range of sparkling wine alternatives differently.
We initially planned for a one- or two-page advertorial within the January issue, then discovered that REAL had some excellent content to play with: a menu of alcohol-free cocktail recipes created by champion bartender Cameron Attfield, featuring the three REAL sparklings alongside other leading non-alcoholic drinks brands. The idea for a booklet was born – especially when sales uplift case studies from previous January issues proved just how well low-and-no content has performed in recent years.
The biggest challenge was a visual one: all 20+ cocktail images were previously shot for different content and had been photographed in the same setting, potentially leading to a one-dimensional look and feel when brought together in one booklet. Our solution was to turn that limitation into a strength, placing the drinks against eye-catching coloured backgrounds inspired by the labels of the three REAL products. We added a healthy slug of editorialisation, too: categorising the cocktails, creating behind-the-scenes Q&A content, highlighting the partner brands, and curating food pairings with OcadoLife recipes for greater cohesion and co-branding.
The result? A bespoke booklet with high-quality content that’s genuinely engaging for customers and delivers a premium placement for REAL. It’s a recipe for commercial success that we’ll be serving up for other brands in future.