The State of Sober Socializing

We made a spirits brand with no alcohol in it the authority on how people drink now — an annual study that gave the press a number to argue about.

8 Billionimpressions in one month
10xsales lift
PR Week Award 2023

The challenge

A new non-alcoholic spirit had no shelf presence, no ad budget and a category full of newcomers all claiming the same sober-curious moment.

What we did

Instead of advertising the bottle, we built the category's reference point: an annual study of how America socializes without alcohol, released with data the press could headline and the trade could cite.

The consequence

The study became the story. Coverage ran into the billions of impressions inside a month, sales lifted tenfold, and the work took a PR Week Award.

The work itself.

"Be 100% you. The world will adjust." — social campaign postsImage

Earned coverage — The New York Times, Forbes, The Washington Post, CNN Underscored, CBS New York, Food Network, Salon, Slate, Digiday, Parade and moreImage

"The State of Sober Socializing 2023" — the annual studyImage

Organic social — the @barezeroproof feed in marketImage

"The State of Sober Socializing 2023" — study coverImage

Scored on the
consequential triangle.

Talkability: A number nobody else owned gave journalists, bartenders and customers something to repeat every year.
Defensibility: Owning the research means owning the definition of the category — a position a competitor can only copy late.
Indispensability: The brand became the source the conversation cites, not a participant in it.

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