Stella Artois Perfect Serve Awards

How do you re-ignite excitement for a celebrated brand program after a ten-year hiatus? Stella Artois had a valuable asset in its "Perfect Serve" program, but the event had not been held for a decade. The challenge was not just to bring it back, but to make its return a can't-miss moment that would capture the attention of a new generation of discerning, urban consumers.

The relaunch needed to be fresh, significant and perfectly situated. It required a high-impact execution that would generate immediate buzz, re-establish the brand's premium credentials and leverage the excitement of bringing back this classic competition.

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The solution was to embed the program within the heart of Toronto's culinary scene by leveraging the authority of SJC’s owned media brand, Toronto Life. As the city's most recognized and trusted food and drink expert, Toronto Life provided the perfect platform to lend immediate credibility and buzz to the relaunch.

The ideal stage for this return was the annual Toronto Life Best Restaurants event, a celebrated gathering at Toronto's Evergreen Brick Works. SJC's experiential events team, Wonder, orchestrated an "event-within-the-event," designing an exclusive VIP experience that would stand out and capture the attention of the city's most passionate food lovers.

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Key components of the strategy included:‍

• ‍A Premier Partnership: We leveraged the immense trust and cachet of the Toronto Life brand. By aligning with a name synonymous with the city's best, Stella Artois instantly gained an authentic voice and a direct line to a pre-qualified audience.‍
• Exclusive VIP Event Integration: The night kicked off with the Perfect Serve Awards, an exclusive VIP event presented by Stella Artois within the iconic Toronto Life Best Restaurants celebration. Here, top bartenders from across Canada went head-to-head in a high-stakes showdown, culminating in crowning Audrey Quesnel of Granby, Quebec, as the winner. She earned the honour of representing Canada at the global finals at Wimbledon, giving the event a compelling narrative and international prestige.‍
• Engaging Experiential Activations: Wonder designed immersive brand moments for the 1,000+ guests. Attendees received one-on-one tutorials to perfect their own pours and could commemorate the occasion with a free, personalized Stella chalice, engraved with a message of their choice.‍
• High-Quality Creative Production: We captured the vibrant energy of the event to produce a full suite of video assets, including sizzle reels ranging from a six-second social cut to a five-minute video intended for global distribution.‍
• Multi-Platform Amplification: The story of the Perfect Serve's return was broadcast across the SJC ecosystem, including a premium digital destination, a targeted social media campaign, co-branded digital ads, and a high-impact, full-page print ad on the coveted outside back cover of Toronto Life's June issue.

The relaunch was an immediate, tangible success. The desire for guests to connect with the brand was palpable, with attendees eagerly lining up for pouring tutorials and waiting patiently for a personalized, engraved Stella Artois chalice.

This incredible on-the-ground energy provided the perfect fuel for the digital campaign. Captured in a suite of high-quality assets and amplified across the trusted Toronto Life network, the event’s success reached a massive audience far beyond the venue itself.

By the Numbers

The campaign vastly over-delivered on its initial goals, achieving more than double the planned impressions and video views that soared over 700% beyond initial estimates, demonstrating exceptional audience engagement.

The Client’s Perspective 

On the invaluable nature of the partnership:

“Urban centres like Toronto are the spiritual home of Stella Artois and working with Toronto Life to leverage an existing event that has brought food and drink lovers together for nine years was the perfect way to bring our Perfect Serve program to life,” says Michael D’agostini, Head of Premium Brands for Stella Artois. “The event gave us the opportunity to have over 1,000 one-to-one connections with consumers, educate them on our iconic pouring ritual, allow them to customize their own Stella chalice and celebrate our restaurant partners from coast to coast through an exciting live competition. Having those meaningful connections with consumers where they feel immersed in the world of Stella was ultimately an extremely valuable outcome for us."

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On the broader marketing impact:

 "By partnering with Toronto Life we were able to combine their expertise in curating events and experiences for Toronto’s food and drink lovers with our Perfect Serve Awards event,” says D’agostini. "More and more we see that consumers value experiences, and by working together, we were able to provide an unforgettable evening for consumers from Toronto and celebrate the highlights of the night by sharing them across a variety of unique mediums like print, social and a dedicated web page."

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The powerful combination of a live, immersive experience and a robust, multi-platform media strategy ensured that the return of the Stella Artois Perfect Serve Awards was not just a one-night event, but a resonant and far-reaching brand story.