Pernod Ricard and Mediascope brought festival energy to major retail chains through memorable in-store experiences as part of the Summer Mix campaign

Pernod Ricard Romania and the trade-marketing and innovation agency Mediascope raised the bar for off-trade experiences this summer with the Summer Mix campaign, dedicated to the Absolut, Jameson, Bumbu, Havana and Malfy brands.

Under the headline “Your festival brands give you back all the fun you had!”, the Summer Mix 2025 campaign aimed to bring the energy of festivals directly to the shelf and to give the specific festival vibe to those shopping in-store.

Kaufland, Auchan, Carrefour and Selgros stores were transformed into experience spaces for this occasion, with the brands participating in the campaign benefiting from activations with immersive brand design, state-of-the-art digital technology and attractive prizes.

One of the stars of the summer was Bumbu, the rum brand from the Pernod Ricard portfolio that brings 17th-century Caribbean recipes back to life. This summer, Bumbu became the world’s no. 1 super-premium rum and the no. 1 in all rum categories in Romania, in the Modern Retail universe – hypermarket and supermarket channels.

The Summer Mix campaign kicked off with two tailor-made pilot activations: Kaufland × Absolut, an explosion of color and good vibes that opened the season with a creative twist, and Carrefour × Bumbu, focusing on the mix of Caribbean flavors and festival vibes, in tune with the vibrant personality of Bumbu rum.

For the two activations, the Pernod Ricard and Mediascope teams combined their expertise in trade marketing with emerging technology and the data collection area.

The Mediascope × Videri digital canvases integrated into key placements transformed the POSMs into true Digital Playgrounds – innovative experiential formats, specially designed to instantly amplify the visibility of in-store brands and consumer interaction at the shelf, offering dynamism, relevance and immersiveness in the vibrant festival atmosphere, in real time.

At the same time, the POSM structures used in the campaign are modular, easily reusable and aligned with the strategic direction set by Pernod Ricard regarding sustainability and social responsibility.

The activations paved the way for the national phase of the campaign, which took place in July–August in Kaufland, Auchan and Carrefour, with the following mechanism: shoppers who add at least one participating product to their cart automatically enter the draw for the grand prize of €10,000, an invitation to extend the summer vibe anywhere and anytime, exactly as they wish.

“We wanted more than just a summer campaign – we wanted to build a coherent experience, with meaning and energy. We started with two tailored concepts that generated awareness in retail, then we expanded the story nationally, with a unified execution and innovative accents in placements – from vibrant aesthetics to dynamic digital content. It’s the kind of project that shows you what the future of in-store marketing can look like,” said Ruxandra Stancu, Business Unit Manager, Mediascope.

“Summer Mix marked a first for the Pernod Ricard portfolio: a multi-channel campaign through which we connected the consumer experience at festivals with that in stores, the binder being the Absolut, Jameson, Bumbu, Havana Club and Malfy brands. Through the partnership with Mediascope and the integration of digital innovations, we managed to deliver both emotional engagement at the shelf and tangible results – increased visibility, consolidation of brand territories and a new standard for the execution of Off Trade Marketing Specialist campaigns”, said Florin Agache, Trade Marketing, Pernod Ricard Romania.

“This year, Summer Mix brought the festival vibe directly to the shelf. Together with Mediascope, we transformed each placement area in partner stores into a Main Stage where brands are the stars. Inspired by the energy of summer festivals, these set-ups invite shoppers to discover new flavors and feel the excitement of the season. This mix of innovation, creativity and excellence in execution generated incremental sales in a context full of challenges,” said Andrei Șchiopu, Head of Modern Trade, Pernod Ricard Romania.

In addition to specific sales and brand awareness KPIs, the campaign aimed to deliver memorable in-store brand experiences, based on principles of visual coherence and premium off-trade execution, ensuring memorability from the first interaction with the product to the moment of consumption.

The campaign marks a new standard in summer 2025 retail and paves the way for innovative initiatives for the next season. The portfolio of brands involved in the campaign brings together category leaders:

• Absolut is the world’s best-selling premium vodka and the sixth largest spirits brand globally, renowned for bold cultural collaborations and sustainability initiatives.

• Jameson remains the world’s number one Irish whiskey, triple distilled in Midleton, County Cork.

• Bumbu, the original drink, created around 400 years ago and continuously refined to the present, has become the world’s number one super-premium rum and the number one in all rum categories in Romania in the Modern Retail universe.

• Havana Club means authentic Cuban rum, synonymous with tropical cocktails.

• Malfy, the super-premium gin distilled with Sicilian citrus, expresses the sunny spirit of the Amalfi Coast.