How to Transform Bars into Sales Engines for Spirits Brands

I am Kim Lawton from Enthuse Marketing, based here in New York City. I own and operate an agency that works in the hospitality space, particularly within the on-premise sector. I’ve been involved in the spirits industry my entire life—my dad owned bars and restaurants, my grandfather owned a pub, and I spent years as a brand ambassador, bartender, and operator. Today, I help brands drive impactful on-premise activity.

I want to share a brand-building playbook for the on-premise. The fundamental starting point is understanding that the on-premise is not merely a sales channel; it is a dedicated environment for brand building. It is an ecosystem where we have the distinct opportunity to curate an experience.

The experience is the opportunity. Consumers go to bars for the occasion. When we discuss occasions, the bar itself is the primary driver. The “brand” is not just the liquid in the bottle—it is the bar staff, the menu design, the bottles displayed on the back bar, and the overall atmosphere that drew the consumer through the door. That collective experience constitutes the brand.

Data shows us that consumers are still going out, but they are going out less frequently, being far more selective, and staying budget-minded in equal measure. Because of this, the quality of the experience matters more today than ever before.

It used to be simple: “value” just meant price. Today, value is about the overall experience. The consumer asks: “Was it worth it? Was it worth the Uber ride, paying the babysitter, spending the money, and giving up the time I could have spent at home watching Netflix?” Bottom line: if the experience doesn’t feel worth it, the price doesn’t matter. Every brand, operator, and agency needs to be continuously asking: What does the consumer actually want?

Everyone loves talking about Gen Z right now. My daughter turns 21 in two weeks and is heading to Vegas, so she is certainly drinking! But I like to ground this conversation in historical perspective. These generational shifts aren’t entirely new. Ten or twenty years ago, the industry was obsessed with Millennials—how they only wanted local craft, locally sourced ingredients, and top-shelf bottle service. Today, many of those same Millennials are casually drinking Truly Hard Seltzer.

Consumer habits evolve. That shift can feel daunting, but it represents a massive opportunity if we meet consumers in their moment rather than trying to force them into rigid boxes. When a consumer walks into a bar, they have already made the deliberate choice to be there—do not waste that moment.

What is happening with Gen Z, and how are they different? They are surrounded by more beverage alternatives than any generation before them: THC drinks, non-alcoholic spirits, RTDs, and hard seltzers. Crucially, they fluidly switch between these options within the exact same occasion. A consumer might order a traditional cocktail at the start of the night, switch to a non-alcoholic option for their second drink, and finish with a canned RTD—all in the same evening, at the same bar. You have to have all of those touchpoints ready to deliver a complete experience.

The question isn’t whether consumers are going out; it’s whether your experience is compelling enough to get them through the door.

The on-premise serves as the primary trial and conversion engine for spirits. When consumers have a great brand experience at a bar, their TikTok posts and Instagram stories become authentic, organic marketing for your brand that costs you nothing. The most credible endorsement you can secure is becoming a seamless part of their personal night out.

While the on-premise is an accelerator for spirits brands, there is an indispensable gatekeeper in this ecosystem: the bartender.

For all the former bartenders and operators in the room: your role cannot be overstated. You are the storyteller, the custodian of the experience, and the brand representative delivering the serve, the recommendation, the ritual, and the human connection. You dictate what a consumer remembers about a brand the next morning.

Consider this statistic: a single bartender can influence 11,000 drink choices every single year. That is an extraordinary level of commercial leverage.

We watched this play out directly in our agency programs. We implemented a comprehensive bartender education program around how to properly pour and serve Guinness; across those target accounts, Guinness went from zero velocity to the number one called-for draft item. That shift didn’t happen through traditional media advertising—it happened through education, training, and trade relationships. Brands that want to reach the consumer must educate the bartender first.

This isn’t just a philosophy; it dictates how you structure your trade programs. Every time a brand representative walks into an account to pitch an operator, the mindset should be: “What do they need from me?” rather than “What can I get from them?”

As Will Guidara famously wrote in Unreasonable Hospitality: “Hospitality is a dialogue, not a monologue.” It is our joint responsibility to collectively deliver on-premise experiences that are worth going out for. What brings people back every time? A clear reason to gather, participate, and tell a friend the next day, “You have to go to this place and try this drink.”

Back-bar visibility and brand distribution are table stakes at this point. Visibility is important, but it isn’t the sole reason a guest returns to a venue. What drives retention is execution.

Here is the Five-Pillar On-Premise Playbook:

1. Build for Occasions, Not Just Accounts

Understand the specific consumer occasion. Whether it’s after-work drinks, a first date, a high-energy Friday night, or a slow Tuesday evening, tailor your brand presence to fit that distinct moment. Help the operator bring that specific occasion to life.

2. Make the Serve the Strategy

A great signature serve accomplishes multiple commercial goals at once: it simplifies the decision-making process for the guest, tells the brand story automatically, and streamlines execution for the bar. If you design a cocktail that a bartender can execute quickly during a rush, it leads to faster service, higher table turnover, bigger tips, and a better guest experience. A serve strategy isn’t just a training video; it’s sending a human being into the account to demonstrate how that serve drives velocity.

3. Treat Bartenders as Brand Builders

Bartenders are not your “last mile”—they are your first mile. They are your frontline storytellers, educators, and trusted guides. Give them the actual tools they need to succeed. Ask them about their neighborhood demographic, their current menu challenges, or their slow nights, and bring solutions that help accelerate their business.

4. Create Experiences That Drive Foot Traffic

Give people a genuine reason to gather. However, the best activations do not feel like heavy-handed, corporate-branded promotions. Respect the venue’s aesthetic. If a bar does not utilize Point-of-Sale (POS) items, do not drop off 500 branded table tents that will immediately get thrown in the trash. Fit naturally into their environment.

5. Be genuinely Useful to Operators

Leverage your brand partnerships to solve real operational problems: bar profitability, menu design, staff education, inventory efficiency, or consumer pull-through. Suppliers and brands have access to market data and category insights—share those insights with your operators to help them run a better business. When the consumer wins, the bar wins; and when the bar wins, the brand wins.

To summarize what winning in the on-premise looks like in 2026:

• Build for the occasion: Recognize that consumers are highly intentional with their spending. Deliver a total experience that justifies the trip out.

• Make the serve the strategy: Ensure your signature serve is easy to execute and automatically communicates your brand’s identity.

• Treat bartenders as brand builders: Build reciprocal, long-term trade relationships rather than transactional interactions.

• Create experiences that drive traffic: Capitalize on the consumer’s desire for real-world social connection and community.

• Leverage supplier-operator partnerships: Provide tangible commercial value to operators, respect their operational environment, and keep your commitments.

Let’s put this playbook into action and bring that energy back to the bar in 2026.