Franciscan: Brand Activation
The Challenge
How do you pair wine sampling with a "fire" food event?
When Franciscan, a Napa Valley-based brand, wanted to try something new within their brand activations, they went online to find partner agencies. The search for an agency with product sampling expertise led them to A Little Bird. “We’re always looking for new agencies that we could be partnering with,” said Rachel Rogers, Senior Associate Brand Manager, E & J Gallo Winery. “A Little Bird brought a ton of creativity, especially at the beginning, figuring out what we were going to do.” The engagement began with activation trials at The Heritage Fire Festival in 2023. The highly-respected gastronomy event travels the country inviting guests to try local fare prepared by critically acclaimed chefs from that area. Since the goal was to drive sampling among a target audience of average consumers who might not go for a premium wine, pairing the brands’ varietals with Heritage Fire Festival’s traditional fare made sense. “We are consistently talking about how well Franciscan pairs with barbecue and with a lot of these approachable summer dishes and cuisine,” Rogers said. “This activation really brings that to life in such an authentic way.”
The Solution
Having tested out A Little Bird’s creative ideas and product sampling execution at the festival, Franciscan committed to the full 2024 Heritage Fire tour.
“With Franciscan, our reason to believe in the brand is that we’re a really approachable, ultra-premium wine,” Rogers said. Continuing with Heritage Fire was a great way to put that on display.
As one of the country’s bigger food and wine festivals, the 2024 tour offered 15 American cities access to high-end bites cooked live, using locally-sourced ingredients by high-quality chefs. It’s an intimate event where guests can taste and vote on the food they’re served.
While the food in each location is tailored to regional taste buds, Franciscan wanted a brand activation strategy that was consistent across events. Not only was this approach cost-effective and simplified logistics, but “when you were seeing photos of Heritage Fire activations, you knew instantly that it was us.”
Working on a tight timeline, A Little Bird took the brand brief and recommended several different activation ideas. Once Fransiscan narrowed down the options, A Little Bird’s team ran trials to develop the best approach.
Once the partners had decided what they wanted the activation to look like, the agency handled the production of the activation kits, the logistics of getting them where they needed to be, and staffing the events with Franciscan brand ambassadors.
“It’s been such a huge value-add that once we really landed on the right look and feel, we were able to be hands off,” Rogers said. “We can feel really confident that A Little Bird is making sure that every event is a success for us.”
The Impact
“There is definitely no other agency that we would call. It’s been such a great experience…The working relationship has been exceptional, and we feel very lucky to have found A Little Bird,”
— Rachel Rogers, Franciscan
From the Road
What We Did
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