Veronica Cohen Weisinger (Caracas 2011)" class="shutterset_singlepic2117">
Who? Veronica Cohen Weisinger, Non Alcoholic Category Manager in Ron Santa Teresa.
Waiters Race organized: Caracas 2011 (Venezuela)
Number of waiters race organized: one (2011)
Please introduce yourself and your company
We have been Perrier Distributors in Venezuela for 18 years, making Perrier the leading brand of carbonated water in the country.
I’ve been managing this brand for more than 2 years and my main aim in 2011 has been to position Perrier within the TOP 20 accounts in Caracas. This is how the Perrier Great Race initiative was born: we wanted to encourage these 20 accounts trough those who are every day the product vendors - The Waiters - and give them the recognition for their work and the great service they provide every day.
About waiters races
WR: When did you hear for the first time about waiters races?
Veronica Cohen: I first heard about waiters races during my last trip to France where we sponsored the Roland Garros cup: people were talking on the lunch table about this funny tradition.
WR: How came-up the idea of organizing a waiters race in Caracas?
Veronica Cohen: the idea of this concept arises from the need to revive the Perrier spirit on premises: we wanted the waiters to help us push back Perrier as the best refreshment option. AND IT WORKED!
We wanted to create not just a single day event but a whole plan where the waiters would have to complete during a 2 months competition in their own restaurant in order to participate in the grand final event: during 2 months, waiters of each restaurant vied with their colleagues in order to collect as many Perrier caps as they could sold; after 2 months, the waiter with the more caps became the representative of the restaurant in Perrier Great Race.
Then, on the day of the race, we offered 70% of the prize to the participant and the rest was distributed in his restaurant among his colleagues.
WR: How could you explain that there was no waiters race before in Venezuela?
Veronica Cohen: I think that because of the situation of the country, we have lost the sense of enjoying and promoting this kind of event. Also in Venezuela, the Waiter figure has not been formalized and respected as in other countries and Perrier is looking to offer this group of hard working people prestige and recognition.
About the organisation of the race
WR: How many months before the race did you start organizing it?
Veronica Cohen: We began organizing this race in October 2010 while creating the brand plans for 2011. However, the organization itself started only in 4 months before the event.
WR: What are the main difficulties you faced during the organisation of the race?
Veronica Cohen: since this event never happened in Venezuela, it was difficult to convince the waiters that it will really happen and that the very attractive cash prizes will be real! Also, we had to convince the managers or restaurant owners who had at first some resistance.
WR: What kind of media, support did you use to promote your waiters race?
Veronica Cohen: We tried to be as aggressive as possible with the media tour because of the race being a novelty in the country and because we wanted everyone to know about what was happening, so that everyone could support the waiters and help them recollect more caps by ordering a Perrier.
We started to spread the press release to all the media channels, radio, magazines, news papers and TVs. Then with this we started to receive calls and invitations to programs and interviews in order to discuss this interesting event and I have to say that the media were quite positive and receptive. During this phase, we also tried to align our interactive networks -Facebook & twitter- so that people could make their comments and support and encourage the waiters.
WR: Could you please give us an idea about the cost of the waiters race for your organisation?
Veronica Cohen: I can tell you that it represented 14% of the whole year A&P budget.
WR: How did you sponsors received your project in general?
Veronica Cohen: We set up a great partnership with The Mondaine House who has a big clock in the square where the event happened. This brought great benefits and support as they helped us to spread the news and developed different extra activities for the public. They were also the ones who took the official time for each participant so that they had a great responsibility over.
They immediately accepted to participate into that event and showed a great interest. For this race, we agreed that Perrier would be the leading and redundant brand and they showed no problem with this. We were also very influenced by the support of the Chacao Mayor Office who allowed us to use this public square where we offer a different outdoor afternoon to the residents of the area.
About results and plans for the future
WR: Did you face any difficulty during the event itself this year?
Veronica Cohen: Actually as I told you, anything serious except the effort we had to make in order to create the culture of this event beneath the restaurant, the waiter and the own public.
WR: Were the other people involved in the waiters race (participants, sponsors etc…) satisfied with the waiters race?
Veronica Cohen: I think it was a great afternoon for everyone involved, we saw the owners and restaurant managers there supporting their waiters, and there were some that even gave special permission to their waiter to practice days before the big event. We had also several recreational activities for those attending the event. Overall, it was an afternoon full of challenges and joys.
WR: Were there any VIP/Special guests at the waiters race?
Veronica Cohen: We had the renowned Mariela Celis as our Host and DJ TATI bringing the best of music.
WR: Do you intend to organize another waiters race in the future?
Veronica Cohen: For sure we will have it next year. Not sure yet about the date and place.
WR: Was there at your race something very original, innovative that you are proud of?
Veronica Cohen: the race was very challenging: the waiters who had a tray in hand full of Perrier bottles had to run in zigzag, cross 2 obstacles, serve 2 table seats, create a Perrier cocktail and finely explode a balloon. There was a common difficulty for everyone to be able to put the napkin stand on the set table stand.
About Waitersrace.com
WR: Were you surprised to find such a waiters race community on the web?
Veronica Cohen: Totally, we never expected that. Mainly because this tradition was new for us.
WR: What do you think about the website itself, its design and tools?
Veronica Cohen: I think it’s great, it is really easy to surf on it and I also received great comments from the people who interviewed us.
WR: How do you think Waitersrace.com can help you with your waiters race and what do you expect from the community?
Veronica Cohen:I think it is an excellent source to stay abreast of what is happening worldwide in this kind of events, also to adopt the good ideas and learn from the experiences of other organizations. It is also an excellent tool to build confidence in our allies and participants as we have the support of an international organization that is certainly of great importance.
And to finish with…
WR: According to you, what are the main components of a successful waiters race?
Veronica Cohen: Participants, organization and FUN!
WR: Your main advice(s) to other organisations in the world that wish to organize waiters races…
Veronica Cohen: Look out for innovation.
WR: Anything to add?
Thank you so much for your support and hope to be working together with you really soon.
