Something for the weekend: This week, Bacardi is asking 7,000 employees to take time out of their working days to go out and visit bars in more than 100 cities across the world, for more than just the usual Friday lunchtime pint.
The ‘Back to the Bar’ initiative aims to bring employees at Barcadi together for a day of research, trendspotting, and tastemaking to become rum gurus in light of the organisation’s 158th anniversary. Back to the Bar commemorates Bacardi’s legacy and its founders’ entrepreneurial spirit, and looks to engage staff with the business.
Mahesh Madhavan, chief executive at Bacardi said: “Back to the Bar tradition is a time when everyone across the [organisation], regardless of [their] day job, becomes an ambassador and a researcher by going back to where our business is made: the local bars and restaurants.
“We are in the relationship business and I never miss an opportunity to talk to a bartender or our consumers to learn what they’re seeing and what they think will be the next big thing.”
Jacob Briars, global advocacy director at Bacardi, added: “In an era where people are flooded with data, there is no substitute for putting feet on the street and seeing first-hand what’s happening at the bar.
“When something excites the bartenders, we know that it is a matter of time before we start to see a shift in the mindset and behaviour of our guests.”
Here at Employee Benefits, we would love to start our own street-stomping trendspotting traditions, especially if it could include finding out what is stirring in our local bars…