Sawgrass CC’s Clubhouse Manager Perry Kenney opened fresh coconuts that were then topped with a locally made vanilla rum and handed out to beach-going members and guests in exchange for a little free marketing.
Each year, Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. serves hundreds of members and guests during its Fourth of July festivities. In fact, it’s one of the club’s busiest events of the year.
This past Independence Day, Clubhouse Manager Perry Kenney doubled his efforts to surprise and delight members and guests by setting up a popup bar near the beach. As members passed by, they were given a complimentary coconut cocktail featuring a locally made, vanilla-flavored rum inside a freshly opened iced and branded coconut.
“Members are always excited to get a free drink,” says Kenney, who served as the muscle during the popup event, opening more than 200 coconuts during service. “They also like to see me sweat. But the grassroots marketing more than covered the costs—and the effort.”
The coconuts cost about $5 apiece with shipping and branding, and the opening tool an additional $40. But the drinks were given away for free, so long as the members posted photos of themselves enjoying the drink on social media, and tagged Sawgrass CC in the post.
“When members host guests from Northern states, they really get into the resort feeling,” adds Kenney. “Nothing says vacation more than a drink served in a fresh coconut.”