Bar Convent Brooklyn returned to the United States this week, even bigger, bolder and boozier than last year’s epic cocktail party.

The bar and beverage industry expo featured hundreds of beautiful people from around the world sharing their food, products, cultures and a slew of beverages. Whether it was a family recipe handed down through generations, a new concoction from an established player or a foreign brand infiltrating the United States, everyone had a story to tell and an eager ear to hear it. Counselor was on the scene to see all of the promotional products that sponsors and exhibitors were handing out.

Italy-based Strega Liqueur had lots of promo items at the Brooklyn Expo Center from June 11-12, including Velcro bracelets, chocolates, mini recipe books and bookmarks. Bartender Christian Rolon explained the history of the product and its ingredients while mixing cocktails served in a branded cup and placed on branded napkins. “The people that come here want to be educated about the brand,” Rolon said. “They ask a lot of questions and you better have answers.”

Gaining more traction in the New York market, Chicago-based Koval Distillery invested in a bigger booth this year, offering a plethora of branded pins and mini flask keychains. “I’m surprised a lot of distilleries don’t use these keychains because a lot of people are coming over to grab them,” said J.C. Josten, Koval’s national consumer outreach coordinator. “We want these items being used as we host retail tastings and activate more events in different areas.”

Brand awareness and expansion were common themes when talking to exhibitors, leading to more focus on consumer-facing events like tastings, parties and soirees. The alcohol market is ripe for distributors who can target these events and provide plenty of branding solutions from apparel for bartenders and ambassadors to logoed drinkware and paper products to creative giveaways for attendees.

Singleton, unveiling its 12-year-old single malt scotch whiskey, kicked the party up another notch with fish bowl pong. Perhaps a future Price Is Right game, attendees were encouraged to shoot branded ping pong balls into fish bowls. If they made a shot, they received a branded bucket hat. The game was so popular that the company blew through four boxes of hats in the first two hours, according to Joe Ignelzi, Singleton’s single malt scotch mentor. “We’ve gotten some people who haven’t tried scotch before, and they’ve loved it,” Ignelzi said. “It’s like beer pong for adults.”

Can’t have a party without pong! @SingletonWhisky @SingletonUS taking #promotionalproducts to the next level. @bcbrooklyn #BCBBrooklyn pic.twitter.com/SNAF16COog

— John Corrigan (@Notready4Radio) June 12, 2019

Several trade agencies from around the world were on hand to help companies from their countries get established in the U.S. market. As a result, these international brands emphasized their culture through drink samples, colorful booth designs and a smorgasbord of promotional products. There were hand fans from Colombian rum producer La Hechicera, shot glasses from Milagro Tequila, coasters and pins from Germany-based Barenjager, among other foreign-flavored ad specialties.

“We don’t want to just sell a spirit and brand – we want to sell the whole experience,” said Lorenzo Urbina, marketing analyst for Pisco 1615. The Peruvian spirit producer organized events throughout the week, including a bartender challenge in which 16 bartenders from the New York-area competed to develop the best cocktails using Pisco 1615. Each participant received a bag full of branded baseball caps, aprons, bar mats, cocktail stirrers and T-shirts.

“Merchandising is a very useful tool,” Urbina said. “We have visibility elements all around the bars that we work with.”