OATLY WINTER CAMPAIGN Q AND A

So many think experiential marketing activations are just a summer thing. But we know that’s not the case. 

We caught up with Oatly’s Head of Brand, Rob Godfrey, to chat about how they approach their work across the seasons and how they make sure to not miss out on one of the biggest marketing opportunities of the year. 

Winter is often overlooked in experiential marketing. But why is it actually a super exciting time for brands?
Experiential is a crucial part of our mix, all year round. We don’t view it as a seasonal thing, as we don’t see our product as a particularly seasonal thing either (you can enjoy Oatly any time!). We centre all our activations around signature drinks and banging oat coffees, and activating in the winter gives us a chance to make more seasonal menus to tap into the colder weather. 

Oatly has delivered some awesome winter campaigns. What’s worked well previously in this season?
Last winter we hosted an industry event called Oatly On The Rocks under Phonica Records, Soho as part of our AW26 Lookbook launch. The space itself was perfect, but we collaborated with some amazing voices in the food & drink industry for some interesting discussions, followed by some delicious oat-based cocktails and food from BAO. That was fun!

We’re showing up again at Manchester Coffee Festival in November and a lot of the cliches about the weather are true – so it’s actually a really lovely thing to be in a big room, connecting with folks from across the industry over great coffee. 

Have you got some advice for brands looking at running experiential marketing in the winter?
Meet your community where they are, and do something generous, creative and interesting for them, not just your brand. Design your experience in a way that feels truly valuable and useful to your audience, for the context they’re in for example: a delicious, free oat hot chocolate on a cold winter’s day is going to be gratefully received. That, and wear warm socks. 

What is Oatly’s biggest focus as we head towards activations in the second half of the year? 
Our biggest focus is on beverage taste innovations; with trends captured by our global network of barista market developers who spend all their time in the best coffee shops, bars, and restaurants in cities across the world. This collected knowledge informs the recipes in the Oatly Look Book – and we’ve got a pretty exciting event happening in London in October to launch it. 

What do you value most in a production partner when you’re trying to connect with consumers?
Creativity, attention-to-detail and willingness to challenge us to make the ideas travel further.