If you're not one of the 5,000 food fans attending this year's sold-out Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, KitchenAid is bringing the culinary world's preeminent event to you.
This afternoon, the home appliance brand, which has a 30-year relationship with the annual festival, will launch "Have Dinner With Us," employing Facebook Live and other social content to enable anyone to follow along with cooking demos by headlining chefs in Aspen and to get additional information about recipes, techniques and shopping. This is the first time live video has been produced at the event, founded in 1983.
Beyond Facebook, content can be found at the websites of KitchenAid and Food & Wine and via both brands' other social channels. Food & Wine and KitchenAid have a potent social following, with more than 2 million total fans on Facebook and 1.5 million via Instagram.
The activation is in partnership with Chris Cosentino, winner of Top Chef Masters, a frequent guest on Iron Chef America and chef/owner of Cockscomb in San Francisco.
"This is the quintessential food event in the world," Bill Beck, vp, brand marketing at KitchenAid, told Adweek at the Classic. "When you look at the top events, whether the Super Bowl or the Indianapolis 500, this is the event you want to be attending, not just from a brand perspective or a chef's perspective but from a consumer's perspective."
Participants pony up $5,000 to attend the Food & Wine Classic, which typically sells out. The event hosts celebrity chefs, journalists and brand marketers from around the world. Aside from KitchenAid, brand partners of this year's event include American Express, Celebrity Cruises, All-Clad, Lexus and Patrón.