OUTSIDE AGAIN: The Occasion Engine
Rebuilding on-trade demand by rebuilding the occasion.
The Diagnosis
The on-trade isn’t losing because the portfolio is weak.It’s losing because the occasion is weaker than it used to be.
People go out less, stay for shorter periods, and return less often —
not because they don’t like brands, but because the container is broken:
-
the night isn’t worth leaving the house for
-
venues are single-mode and uncomfortable
- communal ritual has thinned out
The Shift
Most brands sponsor nights — the aftermath.This model proposes something different: build the occasion itself.
Marketing, not as communication, but as infrastructure.
The System
A vertically integrated engine that rebuilds the four pillars of a functional night out:- Cultural Supply (the sound)
- Social Permission (the ritual)
- Physical Container (the venue)
-
Memory Distribution (the story)
When these work together, demand becomes predictable again.
The occasion returns — and the pour follows.
The Artifact Pitch
To sell the concept, I mailed a physical data point:an unburnt, blank CD — a container, not an error.