What makes advocacy so powerful? Reflections from Absolut’s China Tour

In a moment where bar culture is evolving fast – especially in markets like China – advocacy continues to be one of the most powerful ways for brands to build meaningful, long-term relationships with the people who move the industry forward.

The Absolut x Like Minded Creatures China Tour is a striking example of that, bringing together education, creativity, and community across Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

We spoke to Absolut’s Global Senior Brand Manager Advocacy Claes Ljungberg to reflect on the experience and what it reveals about advocacy today.

What inspired the China Tour, and what makes the region’s cocktail culture so dynamic?

The Chinese cocktail scene right now is explosive, with massive curiosity from both consumers and trade. In particular, there’s a lot of interest in more elevated cocktail perspectives from some of the most influential voices in the industry.

After visiting Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, it’s clear how young, cool, and diverse the scene is. Bars are popping up everywhere, and they can be very niche – from pure baijiu bars serving only one type of spirit, to others built entirely around a single creative idea.

What really stands out is the openness and curiosity of the young Chinese crowd. Bartenders are incredibly eager to learn what’s happening globally, and bringing industry legends like Like Minded Creatures to show off their craft is one of the best ways to inspire the next generation of bartenders.

How did this Tour stand out – creatively or strategically?

The tour was completely peer-to-peer focused. Together with Christine Lin, Marketing Manager, Equity Building and Creative for The Absolut Group in Shanghai, we worked to ensure everything landed well across the three cities. This meant co-creating every element with Like Minded Creatures, from how we ran social media to how we took over venues and crafted the drinks themselves.

They led all communications, and we approached everything from a trade-education angle, focusing on how we could inspire bartenders to think differently about what we do.

We also chose subjects that connected deeply with Absolut and Like Minded Creatures – innovation, creativity, and sustainability – with Alex Kratena leading innovation, Luke Whearty on creativity, and Matt Whiley on sustainability.

When more than 32,000 bartenders tuned in online to watch the masterclasses – a level of digital engagement we’d never seen before – it validated the approach. Keeping Like Minded Creatures as the headline, and Absolut in a supporting role truly resonated with the market.

“…we approached everything from a trade-education angle, focusing on how we could inspire bartenders to think differently about what we do.” – Claes Ljungberg

Which learnings or unexpected insights emerged from engaging with China's bar community?

It was really refreshing to see a market so open-minded. They’re not just into the latest trends, they’re into everything. Often, we’ll see waves of trends dominate cocktail culture: the brown spirit trend, then the gin trend, then the agave trend, and suddenly that’s all you see on menus as the whole community – and consumers – jumps onboard.

But in China, the scene is way more diverse. There’s no hierarchy of base spirits; bartenders are experimenting across categories. That openness and lack of preconceptions make it a really exciting environment to work in.

What are the core principles of successful advocacy, and how did the China Tour bring them to life?

The core of advocacy is of course to inspire and educate the trade. But successful advocacy – the kind that truly resonates and builds deep, long-lasting connections – goes further. It tangibly invites people into the brand world, shows what’s possible with the products, and brings its values to life.

For Absolut, that means creativity, innovation, and sustainability. But instead of giving a presentation about sustainability, we live those values through experiences like this Tour.

Absolut’s legacy in advocacy has always been peer-to-peer, working with the trade, for the trade. Our role is to provide a platform that inspires the community as a whole. And if our product enables that, even better.

“Absolut’s legacy in advocacy has always been peer-to-peer, working with the trade, for the trade. Our role is to provide a platform that helps the community inspire itself.” – Claes Ljungberg

With 32,000+ professionals tuning into the online masterclasses, what role does digital play in expanding advocacy today?

It’s crucial. Across every industry, people want to upskill on their own time. Making education more widely available– not just live, but on demand afterwards – is key. This was especially important in a market like China, where everything is so well connected and people are used to having everything instantly available on their phones.

The huge online turnout also came from combining big international names with strong local relevance – live translation, mentorship-style teaching, and strong local partnerships like SIP China, who already engage about half the country’s trade community. They laid the groundwork that made this so successful.

What makes advocacy so uniquely powerful in building deep, long-lasting connections with the bar and creative community?

Advocacy creates emotion. It takes our values – the ones we write in presentations – and brings them to life.

I always compare it to storytelling. I can watch any documentary if the storytelling is great. I’ve watched films about possums simply because I love David Atterborough’s way of narrating a story. I’ve never been interested in possums, but for that hour, it becomes the most fascinating thing in the world because the storytelling is so good. That’s what advocacy does so incredibly well: it creates emotion.

I’m also a big believer of long-term advocacy. It’s not about appearing and disappearing; it’s about being there consistently. Absolut was built on that approach. From Michel Roux and John Beach in the ‘80s and ‘90s to today, the brand has always focused on creating emotional connections and supporting the community over time.

“I’ve watched films about possums simply because I love David Atterborough’s way of narrating a story. I’ve never been interested in possums, but for that hour, it becomes the most fascinating thing in the world. That’s what advocacy does: it creates emotion.” – Claes Ljungberg

Absolut has a long advocacy legacy. How has it evolved over the years and what continues to set the brand apart?

We’ve never really defined ourselves as a vodka or spirits brand, but rather as a force for positive change. Connecting people has always been at the heart of who we are, from supporting the LGBQT community as early as the ‘80s, to supporting the trade since the late 70’s.

Authenticity has been incredibly important throughout this journey. We’re not buying brand love, we’re creating it by doing good things, with Absolut as the focus.

Advocacy being championed so strongly across the broader Pernod Ricard Group also allows Absolut’s legacy to evolve and stay locally relevant. The China Tour is a great example of that – the local team’s belief in advocacy, in Absolut, and in the cocktail scene, along with their deep connection to the bartender community played a huge role in bringing this vision to life.