The Drunken Hummingbird

Wholesome. Artisanal. Local. Delicious.

Client

The Drunken Hummingbird

Area

Branding, All Content

Date

December 2019

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The Project

The Drunken Hummingbird (TDH) is a high-quality, small-batch bakery specializing in liquor-based cakes, confections, and botanical drinks. The new bakery was in need of branding, a website, and a comprehensive content strategy for all media.

Audits & Due Diligence:

The company’s unique value proposition was clear: they only use premium, wholesome ingredients, create artisanal specialty products, and emphasize community and sustainability.

I created a target audience profile and a competitive audit. I identified potential customer concerns and deterrents regarding TDH’s products. These were primarily the high-caloric contents, as the confections are made with ample sugar and liquor. Shortly after opening, TDH began botanical drinks in response to the pandemic to help with illness and immunity. It was made fresh, had little competition, and was well received locally. I used these beverages as a bridge (between healthy bioactive food and liquor-infused confections), to create a cohesive brand identity and storyline for all content.

Content Strategy:

TDH’s core message became all-natural confections made with wholesome ingredients, locally sourced, organic, or fair trade. The packaging was also sustainable, resulting in a premium product that could be marketed to retail outlets like Whole Foods. All content highlighted the product as artisanal, all-natural, sustainable, and delicious. The brand’s ambassadors became the hummingbird, and a fictional taste tester named Didi. The hummingbird represented nature, gardens, botanicals, beauty, and sugar. Didi personalized the brand voice.

Using these ambassadors and a focus on ingredients, I created a balance between TDH’s healthy bioactive drinks and their liquor-infused confections, resulting in a cohesive brand identity and storyline for all content.

Building Strategic Partnerships:

TDH worked with not-for-profit Swinton Community Growing Project (CGP)- a sustainable community garden. TDH provided free cakes for Communal Sunday Brunch and events, with all proceeds going to the organization.

This was a great alliance because both TDH and Swinton emphasize local, organic, sustainable food, wholesome, natural ingredients, and community.

Campaigns

During the pandemic, I mobilized a TDH storytelling opportunity. The campaign was called #Happy Hour. I created “Thank You” flyers, to be handed out to first responders at various local hospitals and fire stations, and had them delivered along with boxes of free cake.

The first responders were requested to simply take a photo with the cakes and send them to #Happy Hour. This user-generated content created numerous leads, as potential customers happily shared their gifts.

After free rounds of cake, TDH saw a succession of repeat customers. I sent out emails to subscribers providing further discounts on large orders, and sales continued to increase. TDH also participated in several local green markets, and partnered with local caterers, further generating sales and leads.