Seeding Product to the Supper Club

It’s not often that the advertorial content in magazines captures my attention, but Maille (makers of the Dijon mustard currently sitting in my fridge) got me.

Context:

Just last night a friend was telling me about a great new flat she found that had 13 bedrooms. While I debated whether that could actually be classified as a hotel, she told me about its kitchen. The flat/hotel comes with a giant table and flashy new renos, so it simply must be used!

I’ve heard whisperings of a new trend called supper clubs, and Elif explained them to me and her plans for them at said table. Apparently, you agree to make a meal and set a minimum donation for your guests. Rather than just inviting friends and relatives, you advertise online and open it up to strangers. The idea is that you’re meeting new people and trying new foods, in new settings.

I was pleased to see in Psychologies that Maille had caught on to the promotional power of the supper club trend. Apparently, the brand is so passionate about ‘citizen chefs’ that they created the Maille Supper Club Kit. They provide tips and advice for these citizen chefs, available on the waitrose site here. 

Brilliant thinking, but I’d love to see a brand take this one step further. Rather than capitalising on this to try to sell product, why not seed it? By its very nature, the supper club attract any gourmet food brand’s stakeholders - foodies - and it brings them in from different backgrounds, professions and social circles. They’ll try the product and maybe use it when they host their own supper clubs, and so on. It’s the ideal time for brands to talk promotional strategy over supper.