Partnerships
Whether for campaigns, content creation or events, making strong on-brand partnerships enabled Slayer to effectively increase their exposure and make sales. While many companies were looking to social influencers, I saw the value in working with other like-minded companies to strengthen bonds for the long run. Working with brands like The Delicious Hospitality Group, Oatly, Rishi Tea, Scrappy’s Bitters, Pacific Foods, Counter Culture Coffee and Black Rabbit Service strengthened the message of our the Slayer brand with very little monetary need.
With every coffee festival comes a litany of after parties. At Los Angeles Coffee Festival, the goal was to be the focal point of the show, but with a limited budget. We were able to throw the biggest party of the weekend because of the partnerships I created with other brands. With live music, food, cocktails, and beer we were able to pull a crowd of 200+ while only spending a few hundred dollars.
While throwing a successful party was the goal, the biggest takeaway from the event was the lasting partnerships I built for the brand. Again and again we will be able to join forces with other strong and like-minded brands to reach a wider audience and create a larger awareness of our brand.
In support of the sales team low-key events were set up in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle to showcase our new products, increase brand awareness and solidify local partnerships in the respective areas. With an extremely low monetary contribution the brand saw great success in reaching both new and existing audiences as well as creating lasting relationships with valuable members of the industry––not to mention all of the great content assets created.
Brand partnerships go beyond a singular sale or saving money on an event. A truly great partnership leads to unforeseen opportunities and collaborations.
A great example of this would be the story of Scrappy’s Bitters and Remy Molina. I have a genuine interest in the Scrappy’s brand and was able to facilitate the sale of one of our espresso machines to their flagship location. Most importantly, we forged a friendship across brands that are seen in their respective industries as high-quality, industry leaders that reside in Seattle.
In 2019, Slayer was the espresso machine sponsor for the Coffee Masters competition at the New York Coffee Festival. This competition is like the olympics for specialty coffee professionals; baristas from around the world compete for the title, cash prize and a Slayer espresso machine. After the show concluded, I had made strong personal connections, one of which was the winner of the competition––Remy Molina from Costa Rica. Later in the year Remy visited Seattle and while in town collaborated with Slayer and Scrappy’s to create a series of videos (see below) focused on espresso based cocktails, one of his competition winning skills.
Events
As an active member of the events team, I helped design the concept and experience for not only the company’s owned events, but brand partner’s events, too. During the events, I ensured the look and feel remained on brand, as well as managed daily operations to keep the team on track. At every event it was critical to continue establishing the Slayer Espresso brand as edgy, cool, and to draw large crowds. Each event required something that would drive the audience to engage with the brand on social, without being blatant––this meant creating something unique enough to inspire photographs worthy of sharing like bright neon signs, incredibly unique custom machines, or a live DJ in an otherwise musicless event.
Event PR
Without the help of an agency, it was up to me to forge the relationships and create opportunities to get the word out about our successful events.
