THE POWER OF THE SERVE 3.0

THE POWER OF THE SERVE 3.0:
THE COMMERCIAL WEAPON FOR DRINKS BRANDS

How the drinks industry can harness the power of the serve for commercial success in a world of changing consumer habits, shrinking budgets and growing competition.

Thursday 5th November 1-2:30pm GMT

The drinks industry is in a period of rapid transformation. From functional beverages and premium
non-alcoholic options to hybrid spirits and culturally driven aperitifs, consumers are reshaping what relevance looks like across every drinks category.

New brands are launching at speed. Established players are innovating faster than ever. Yet only a handful truly cut through.

In this WonderNETwork webinar, we ask: what does it really take to launch a new drinks brand that lands commercially, culturally and creatively in today’s market? We’ve been here before. Twice. And every time we return to the power of the serve, the conversation gets richer, because the world the serve exists in keeps shifting.

The mechanics of a great serve haven’t changed. What has changed is everything around it.

Economic pressure is reshaping how consumers spend. Cultural fragmentation means the days of broad, mass-reach moments are fading. Consumers are more intentional, more selective and more emotionally driven in how they choose to spend their time and money. Drinking habits are shifting too, with people drinking less, drinking differently and expecting more from the moments they do choose to spend on a drink.

At the same time, the on-trade is under scrutiny. Advocacy and trade education budgets are being cut. RTDs and at-home channels have changed the traditional route to discovery. And brands are increasingly asking a question that would have felt uncomfortable not long ago:

Do bars and bartenders still matter as much as they once did?

As a creative drinks agency working with global brands across advocacy, education and serve strategy for over a decade, we believe the answer is yes, but the question now is a sharper one. Not whether the serve matters, but how you set it up for commercial success – for both big brands and small ones; for operators, venues and founders; across on-trade, off-trade and everything in between.

The serve has always been a creative tool, but what we’re exploring in this third edition is how it becomes a commercial one. How the brands winning today aren’t just designing beautiful serves, they’re building them with intention, embedding them into culture, and using them to drive measurable growth across channels.

Take St-Germain riding the Hugo Spritz wave to become one of the fastest growing brands in the Bacardi portfolio. The Mirror Margarita going from a signature bar serve at Hacha to a nationally listed RTD in Sainsbury’s. The Picante cocktail becoming so synonymous with Soho House that it’s now a global classic.

These aren’t just smart serves, they are commercially engineered moments, built through the right partnerships, the right channels and the right timing.

In our third WonderNETwork edition of The Power of the Serve, hosted by Shervene Blackburn, Global Director of Advocacy and Experience at Bacardi, we explore why the future of the serve belongs to the brands capable of:

WHAT we’ll Cover:

•      Setting up the serve for commercial success, not just creative standout
•      Understanding which channels, partners and moments unlock real growth
•      Moving with speed and specificity in a market that is changing fast
•      And building the kind of cultural credibility that compounds over time

And much, much more!

OUR host:

Shervene Blackburn – Global Director of Advocacy and Experience, Bacardi
With over 20 years across advocacy, customer and consumer marketing, Shervene leads Bacardi's global advocacy, bartender engagement and guest experience strategy. She began her career in Edinburgh's hospitality scene and has been a driving force in trade advocacy ever since.

OUR PANEL OF SPEAKERS:

Franck Dedieu – Global Brand Ambassador, St-Germain
Franck is a global hospitality and brand advocacy professional with over a decade of experience in premium spirits, culture and the on-trade. Beginning his career behind the bar, he became an award-winning bartender and bar manager, winning Bacardi Legacy Global in 2015 before joining the team behind London’s acclaimed Coupette. As Global Brand Ambassador for St-Germain at Bacardi, Franck develops advocacy strategies and programs across markets, connecting brand vision with culture, creativity and the communities that bring it to life.

Emma Murphy – Co-Founder and Creative Director, Mirror Margarita & Hacha
Co-Founder and Creative Director of multi-award-winning ready-to-drink cocktail brand Mirror Margarita, and London's acclaimed Hacha Agaveria, voted 78 in The World's Top 100 Most Influential Bars, twice named CLASS magazines Specialist Bar of the Year and a long-term feature on the World's 50 Best Discovery List. Over an almost 20 year career in the London hospitality industry, Emma was notably a Director of London Cocktail, Wine and Beer Week festivals and held management roles with industry icons Gordon Ramsay, Jonathan Downey and the Hart Brothers.

Dominic Stancombe – Creative Strategist, Wonderworks
Our very own Creative Strategist, Dom has spent close to a decade getting to know the drinks industry. From start-ups to global players, he works across international brand launches, brand refreshes and experiential campaigns for a portfolio of world-leading drinks brands. He has a particular passion for brand education and serve strategy, helping brands think beyond the liquid to understand how the serve can drive distinctiveness, desirability and value. Turning a seemingly simple drinking moment into a genuine commercial opportunity.

Tom Kerr – Director, Soho Farmhouse
Director at Soho Farmhouse, part of Soho House & Co, Tom has a background spanning the wider Soho House group including time as Head of Beverages and Beverage Director. He has shaped the drinks culture and serve strategy across Soho House's global portfolio of members' clubs, and is the operator behind the Picante becoming one of the brand's most iconic global serves.

Whether you’re a brand questioning where to invest your serve strategy, an operator thinking about how to build more commercially powerful menus, or a founder looking to take your serve from bar to bottle, this session is for you.