Sunkist gives fresh twist to traditional nightlife narrative with Next Morning Bar

Sunkist has launched The Sunkist Next Morning Bar, offering visitors in Hong Kong a chance to recover from the night before with feel-good drinks early the next morning.

Running from 28 March to 2 April at Central Market, the bar was part of a broader brand campaign that reclaimed the morning as a moment of revitalisation and renewal—with the help of fresh Sunkist citrus.

The Sunkist Next Morning Bar is a day bar borrowing the language and exciting atmosphere of regular bars, but replacing the alcohol with citrus-fueled refreshments, flipping expectations and making the morning as appealing as a night out.

The bar itself features an oversized Sunkist crate overflowing with larger-than-life oranges, housing a mocktail bar and DJ booth for visitors to enjoy their morning and hang out. It was situated at a vibrant new daytime spot in the middle of Hong Kong’s party scene to get people feeling good again.

With a menu of freshly made drinks from local mixologist, Antonio Lai, Hong Kongers can sip away their sins with a Citrus Redemption, Unguilty Pleasure, or a Morning Mercy Shot—all freshly mixed using Sunkist Navel oranges and lemons.

Early risers can drink to forget, raise a glass to feel good and drink up as the sun comes up all to a set of feel-good tunes from resident mix master DJ Sinke. The campaign was done in partnership with Edelman Hong Kong.

In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, a Sunkist spokesperson said the marketing strategies for the Sunkist Next Morning Bar campaign include experiential marketing to create a vibrant, alcohol-free bar complemented by uplifting music that mirrors traditional nightlife, prominently featuring California-grown citrus in everything from the drinks and desserts to the decor. 

"This immersive environment appeals to consumers seeking a refreshing morning experience while resonating with Hong Kong's local nightlife culture. We partnered with Lai to enhance our offerings by showcasing innovative mocktails that effectively highlight Sunkist citrus."

To extend the campaign’s reach, all mocktail recipes are available on the Sunkist Hong Kong website, giving over-indulgers across the city everything they need to feel better after a big night before.

The Next Morning Bar is designed to go beyond just a one-off experience, it’s about bringing citrus into new lifestyle rituals and elevating its role to become part of personal feel-good culture and fun social moments.

"To drive purchase intent, we also provided mocktail recipes on the Sunkist Hong Kong website, allowing consumers to recreate the bar experience at home and encouraging them to integrate California-grown citrus into their daily routines. Furthermore, leveraging social media amplified the experience and fostered ongoing engagement, building excitement around the campaign. By integrating California-grown citrus in every aspect, we positioned Sunkist as a key player in creating enjoyable and revitalising morning moments," added the spokesperson.

“With the Sunkist Next Morning Bar, we wanted to break away from the traditional mold of citrus marketing and create an experience that feels culturally relevant, unexpected, and fun. Hong Kong has such a dynamic nightlife scene, so we saw an opportunity to bring that same energy to the morning, using our citrus as the key to helping Hong Kongers feel good again—no matter what happened last night,” said Cassie Howard, senior director of category management and marketing at Sunkist.

“The insight was simple: the feel-good feeling that comes from drinking fresh citrus is enough to mask anything that happened the night before. So, we created an experience that turns a regrettable moment into something celebratory, social, and fun. The Sunkist Next Morning Bar is a disruptive but fun way to show how Sunkist citrus is exactly what you need the morning after the night before,” said John Koay, executive creative director at Edelman.

This comes as Sunkist and Edelman have renewed their partnership to continue putting out impressive creative campaigns to Hong Kong audience.

Don't miss: Sunkist taps into traditional Chinese medicine in new campaign

Back in 2023, Sunkist Growers tapped into the world of  traditional Chinese medicine to showcase the benefits of California-grown citrus in its latest campaign.  

This came as the brand hoped to adapt to the growing concerns of wellbeing and how people are starting to look back at ancient Eastern methodologies in a quest to balance their “qi” energy. 

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