.png)
How a Rave Cave drove double-digit sales from the coolest corner of Mardi Gras
8.60%
Unit Uplift
1779
Incremental Units Sold
2.30%
Incremental Sales Lift
*Uplift was measured using a Difference-in-Difference (DiD) approach, comparing average sales during the campaign to a 4-week pre-campaign baseline and to control stores not exposed to audio ads.
Create an inclusive Mardi Gras “Rave Cave” experiential activation at Liquorland Darlinghurst, celebrating the Coles Group partnership and support of Mardi Gras. The experience reflected the spirit of Mardi Gras and welcomed all customers and community members who visited the store.
Coles Liquor Group had never activated audio in a cool room before. No playbook, no precedent, no prior art. QSIC pitched the concept, got the green light, and built the whole thing from scratch. The brief wasn't just to play music in a cool room. It was to create a genuine experience: one where the audio, the energy, and the environment all worked together to make shoppers feel like they'd stepped into something, not just walked past it. A space with its own identity. Where the playlist, the messaging, and the atmosphere were so tightly aligned that the whole thing felt curated for that exact moment, not dropped in as an afterthought.
.jpg)
The activation covered three pillars: full environmental styling to blend Mardi Gras energy with rave aesthetics, dynamic lighting to create atmosphere and visual impact, and a custom playlist curated specifically for the space and managed end-to-end by QSIC. The activation ran a layered location strategy: CBD stores broadcast audio driving foot traffic to Darlinghurst, in-store audio steered customers toward the cool room, and inside the Rave Cave the music shifted to full high-energy mode, a deliberate sensory contrast that guided the entire customer journey. Sitting alongside drag queens, DJs, and live festival programming, the Rave Cave became the sonic centrepiece of the wider event. Cool room beer and RTD sales responded: 1,779 incremental units sold, an 8.60% unit uplift across the activation period.
