Shanghai White

Shanghai White, a new premium vodka brand, had a really interesting and cool launch event recently at the Western Market. Often brands get their launch parties wrong- not enough logo representation, the wrong venue, the wrong crowd, not enough media exposure or a muddled theme.

The Shanghai White launch got everything right. I was intrigued by the event as soon as Simon Yin (actor, comedian, Shanghai White brand ambassador) gave me the invite. It was a classy navy color with cherry blossom flowers on the corners, art deco fonts and an illustration of a Classic Shanghai beauty from the 30’s.

The venue, the Western Market in Sheung Wan, is one of the most beautiful and historical buildings standing in Hong Kong today. It has high vaulted ceilings, red brick walls, chandeliers, stain glass windows and tiled flooring. The romance factor is very high!

The event was from 7-11pm which in my opinion is the perfect time frame to hold an exclusive launch event since a classy boutique vodka launch will not turn into some wild booze-fest anyway. In addition, limiting the time is easier on the sponsor’s wallet and gives no time for the party to empty out or become bad.

I donned a red silk dress that has a delicate pattern of gold Chinese clouds on it to get into the Shanghai Spirit. I almost revisited the 1920’s hairdo I had one Halloween but Trang, my fave hairstylist for up-dos was not in town.

Once inside, there was a large stage with a projector projecting the Shanghai White logo onto the stage’s dark velvet drapes. A lot of people were wearing fedora hats tilted to the side. Most of the men were in sharp suits and the majority of the ladies wore flirty dresses. No one really went all out doing the Shanghai theme except for a few gals in Cheongsams.

Many local celebs were in attendance- actors, singers, and models, as well as the usual socialite contingent. There were few Euro-sophisto types and a few dapper dandy daddies. The launch was definetly pandering to the right crowd and for me it was a terrific chance to network and pass out my cool new embossed namecards.

The vodka was properly introduced by the brand ambassadors and the entertainment was fitting to the occasion. There were cabaret dancers and a guy that sounded just like Frank Sinatra. He even sang my favorite Sinatra song- ‘That’s Life’.

Along the well lit bars were Shanghai white bottles and logos. The bottles are gorgeous! Admitedly I’m not a vodka conniseur so a person like me would typically buy into things that are packaged beautifully. There were waiters distributing handsome martinis and pork buns while some rep that looked like Jude Law ran around making sure things were running smoothly behind the bar. There was a mock gambling table in the back near a big poster of the Bund which blocked off the back section so the venue didn’t look too big. There were even mirrors toward the back so it looked like there were more people and a bigger space. How ingenious.

In any case the venue, the decoration, the crowd, the product placement, and the entertainment were all on the money. I reckon throwing a launch party is a little like writing a paper for school. You choose a topic (a theme) and everything you write about has to support that topic. As far as launch parties go, I’d say this one got an A! See all the party photos here:
http://www.hiphongkong.com/galleries/party_photos/shanghai_white_vodka_launch_party_western_market

In case you haven’t seen this archived blog on my livejournal about the Adidas party- click here. That party got an A++ (well- what I remember of it anyway)!!

http://hiphongkong.livejournal.com/
 

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