Cutwater, a spirits-based canned cocktail brand has announced its newest initiative, Open the Bar.

This integrated campaign features new, creative ad spots highlighting the brand’s premium, ready-to-drink innovations which turn any occasion into a high-quality cocktail experience.

Accompanying the platform is a new, elevated visual brand design seen on Cutwater’s line of 20+ canned cocktails, made with real, award-winning spirits including Lime Margarita, Vodka Mule, Tiki Rum Mai Tai and Mango Margarita.

The new campaign launches amidst a rise in the ready-to-drink category and is designed to educate and empower consumers on the quality of the segment. This is brought to life in three creative spots developed by AKQA and directed by Italian artist duo Mathery, “Après Ski,” “Beach,” and “At-Home Entertaining,” each pulling inspiration from the brand’s vibrant colour palette and brand world – from set design to decor and beyond.

The spots highlight key drinking occasions where barriers to easy enjoyment of your favourite cocktail might exist.

With just the cracking open of a Cutwater, they unlock and transform the bar experience, while celebrating the brand’s years of expertise, consistency and convenience with each sip.

“As the category leader, Cutwater is on a mission to make bar-quality cocktails more accessible by enabling consumers to finally enjoy the cocktail of their choice, whenever, wherever,” said Chad Lafeldt, vice president of marketing for Cutwater.

“In our new ‘Open The Bar’ campaign, we show that by simply opening one of our 20+ award-winning canned cocktails consumers can enjoy bar-quality cocktails on occasions that were otherwise reserved for other beverages, bringing the best of the bar where they are.”

Alongside the new campaign, the brand is unveiling new visual brand designs while providing more clear graphic cues. The elevated packaging will mirror the quality of its award-winning portfolio to help consumers more easily navigate the spirits-based ready-to-drink category.

Inspired by consumer insights and designed to keep the brand growing sustainably for years to come, the new packaging features bold colours and illustrations to showcase flavours and cocktail graphics.

The ABV is displayed front and centre while the amount of shots in each ready-to-drink can is clearly marked. Other design changes include a larger logo for easier recognition on crowded shelves and more simple typography for readability.

“As we continue to focus our efforts, Anheuser-Busch is committed to growing and investing in its Beyond Beer portfolio, with a major emphasis on category leaders like Cutwater. We believe in the power of the ever-evolving ready-to-drink category and are here to help educate consumers on the exciting space while bringing them a best-in-class line-up of offerings,” said Monica Mody, group vice president of marketing for Anheuser-Busch’s Beyond Beer Business Unit.

Cutwater’s new visual brand design and campaign will be rolling out through the spring, living across social channels, connected TV, premium digital video platforms and retail.