A "spirited" exploration of the power of rituals at work

#Rituals can play an important role for organizations internally and externally. They can drive #employeeengagement, inspire creative thinking, drive performance, and more. When it comes to #customerloyalty, rituals can enhance brand affinity and serve as a differentiator.

According to Rituals for Work, a ritual is a set of actions that a person or group does repeatedly, following a similar pattern or script, in which they’ve imbued symbolism and meaning.

They often involve props (a Moscow Mule’s copper mug), words (making a toast), or actions (squeezing a lime into a Corona) that represent a sense of connection to others.

At its essence, asking someone, “do you want to get a drink?”, be that coffee, lemonade, a beer, or cocktail, is one of the oldest social rituals. It’s a subtle way of saying, “I’d like to see you”.

When it comes to creating a ritual, let’s explore the #MoscowMule and its copper mugs? Why are they served this way? It resulted from three people with separate goals coming together with one focus. Sophie Berezinski had a surplus of copper mugs she wanted to sell.

John Martin wanted to popularize the ailing Smirnoff vodka. Bar owner Jack Morgan couldn’t get customers excited about his house-made ginger beer. Together, they created a tasty drink whose story went that it is supposed to be served in a copper mug. With enough persistence and ceremony, it caught on and began to spread far beyond Jack Morgan’s Cock ‘n’ Bull tavern.

When you see someone drinking from a copper mug, you don’t have to ask what they’re drinking because it’s the most notable drink served in copper. When effective, rituals are powerful.

During our brand experience workshop, we’ll discuss rituals throughout spirits and cocktails to get your team about how it might create or hone one.