SWEENEY’S

ONE YEAR OF BEAUTIFUL CHAOS

Unveiling the Walnut St. Business Development Plan through Sweeney’s first birthday.

CREATIVE STRATEGY | CREATIVE DIRECTION

Drumming up excitement for the wider Walnut St. Business Development Plan under the guise of Sweeney’s Walnut St. Tavern’s first anniversary party.

People walking on a street past a construction site with new houses being built, and a man in the front smiling and wearing sunglasses.

ONE YEAR OF BEAUTIFUL CHAOS ON WALNUT ST.

ROLE: Led strategy and creative direction for the event, shaped the concept, coordinated partners, and ensured the experience brought community building, brand storytelling, and activation together cohesively.

When Sweeney’s Walnut Street Tavern hit its first anniversary, we turned it into a full-scale celebration that introduced people to the future of Walnut Street and pulled the neighborhood into the story of what’s coming next.

Why This Moment Mattered
Sweeney’s is the first business to open within a larger plan to revive a row of 1800s homes in Franklinton. The anniversary gave us a natural reason to draw people in, build curiosity around the block, and connect guests to the team leading the effort, including Jim Sweeney and Blake Compton. It was also the perfect time to spotlight the next business coming to the street, Good Land Brand, which was currently under construction.

What We Built
We created a birthday celebration that felt more like a street festival, designed to show the potential of the area while keeping Sweeney’s at the center of the action.

Programming included nine musical acts, Goodland Brand hard hat tours, a dunk tank featuring community members with proceeds going to the Franklinton Arts District, mini bike races from Franklinton Cycle Works, the Good Market curated vendor lineup, on-site screen printing, and a variety of local food trucks.

Drink promotions included a custom birthday menu, two Malört beverage stunts including jello shot Russian roulette and birthday cake-infused Malört, boozy snow cones, and a custom “Sweeney’s Spritz” iteration of Sunroom by Land Grant Brewing Co. with a limited edition label illustrated by Walt Keys.

What It Did
The anniversary became a preview of what Walnut Street can be as more of the development opens. Guests walked away talking about the future of the block. First-time visitors explored the surrounding houses under renovation. Goodland Brand became a name associated with progress rather than an abstract concept.

For Sweeney’s, the event reinforced its identity as the anchor of this new pocket of Franklinton and a place shaping the culture around it.

Acknowledgments
Sweeney’s Bar Manager, Creative Collaborator, Event Planning & Production: Justin Ryan
Photography & Video: Melody Kay Photography
Land Grant Custom Collaboration Illustration: Walt Keys

12K+ SOCIAL
IMPRESSIONS

To build excitement for the event, we developed a multi-layer content plan that included:

Faux “Beautiful Chaos” tramp stamp content stunt with influential local tattoo artist Squid Viscious
Tongue-in-cheek promotional photography of Jim Sweeney and the bartenders
Interactive CTA inviting regulars to share and display their “beautifully chaotic” moments from the past year
Spotlights of nine musical acts

$17K+
IN BAR SALES

To drive bar sales, we launched:

Playful birthday-themed menu
Two Malört beverage stunts
- birthday cake-infused Malört shots
- Malört “jello shot Russian roulette”
Custom “Sweeney’s Spritz” edition of Sunroom in collaboration with Land Grant Brewing Co.
Boozy snow cones in collaboration with Chinola Liqueurs

6
PARTNERS

We partnered with a mix of alcohol brands like Chinola Liqueurs, Long Drink, and Land-Grant Brewing Company, along with local community groups including Franklinton Arts District and Franklinton Cycle Works.

Most importantly, we highlighted Good Land Brand, the next business moving onto Walnut St., by offering hard hat tours of their build in progress, spotlighting them on socials, and folding them into Sweeney’s Walnut St. development speech that evening.

We capped it with a Sweeney’s x Good Market, a vendor lineup of Sweeney’s selects curated by Good Land Brand.