BACARDI’S BOOZE BUS

New Zealand may be the perfect setting for the fantasy genre, but when the Bacardi team needed a mobile way to spruik rum around the disconnected population, a pirate galleon wasn’t going to happen, and a space ship would have been a bit too high-flying for the average punter. In the end, the Bacardi team settled on the more down-to-earth bus option – its slim dimensions mirroring the innards of a high-end cocktail bar. Identity Group jumped on the bandwagon, stripping out the plastic seats and lino to make way for an ultra-chic party bus for 25. Taken right back to its steel framing, the bus floor was lowered 400mm, while still making room for more storage underneath to house a generator, battery bank, toilet waste, fresh and waste water tanks, barbeque, ice bins and more. The roof was then raised at the rear, and a range of Cuban influences tied into the boutique space, as well as a fully-functioning bar of course.  Mike Brabant, Bacardi brand manager, explains: The ability to offer a one of a kind experience to people around New Zealand was very appealing. As a small venue for 25 people its the perfect environment to showcase the Bacardi brand and range of drinks… and we’ve since found a variety of uses for it — we’ve had top NZ bands use it for music tours as a green room, as a place to host interviews with bands, taking bars out to teach them new cocktails, and also for a different presentation location. venue: Are there plans to roll out a whole fleet of Bacardi buses?  MB: At the moment one Bacardi bus is enough, the resources that go into running the bus behind the scenes are quite considerable. To have a fleet you’d really need to have a dedicated mechanical service and operations team. We only have a marketing team of three down here in New Zealand, so we can’t quite cover it!