Activation at Akino
Fresh off the adrenaline of The Toss, we were ready to do it again.
The AAPI Northeast Tennis Festival had exceeded every expectation. The kids loved it, the drinks flew, and we walked away with something we hadn't planned for — proof that in-person worked for Queen Omi. The sports angle felt like a formula. And when our partnership with Akino came together, the timing felt perfect.
Akino is a beloved all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant in the heart of Flushing. High foot traffic, great reputation, and a neighborhood full of people who always have a drink in their hands. We said yes.
The Move
It was May. The Knicks were on a run. The city was electric.
We followed our usual protocol — the same one that gave us The Toss — and came up with a themed drink for the moment. The energy was there. The timing felt obvious. A packed restaurant, playoff fever, Queen Omi at the table.
We were wrong.
The Lesson: Wrong Product Market Fit
The activation flopped. And not just a little — our table literally collapsed at the end of a customer-less day.
But the more we unpacked it, the more it made sense. A few things we didn't fully account for going in:
1) Flushing runs on sugary beverages. Not just a preference — a culture. There are already endless beloved drink brands that people grew up with, trust instinctively, and will choose every single time without thinking. We were asking people to try something unfamiliar in a neighborhood where familiarity wins. And the coupon stacking on Chinese delivery apps will get you a "name brand" milk tea for $2.99
2) Then there's the context problem. Selling a drink inside an all-you-can-eat restaurant — before or after a meal where you're ready or already stuffed every inch of your stomach — just doesn't make sense - in hindsight, lol. The stomach doesn't care how cool the drink is.
3) And the Knicks energy? Turns out they're all in Manhattan, not Queens. Those wearing Blue & Orange Jerseys on the Flushing streets were Mets Fans 🥲💙⚾🧡
Wrong market. Wrong moment. Right lesson.
But we didn't walk away empty-handed.
Every single in-person conversation got written down. Who stopped. Who didn't. What people assumed Queen Omi was before we explained it. What made someone hesitate. What made someone buy. What made someone walk away — even from a free sample 😮🙈
We even had someone try a sample and tell us it wasn't that delicious. So we added honey to sweeten it. Handed it to someone else. And that person looked at us and said "wow, you put in a lot of honey."
You can't satisfy everyone. And trying to is its own kind of trap.
What we came away with is something more valuable than one good activation: a much clearer picture of who our core customer actually is. Not who we assumed. Not who we hoped. Who actually stopped, stayed, asked questions, and came back for a second cup.
That data is now shaping every move we make going forward.
The Next Move
Fewer assumptions. More conversations before we commit.
The sports activation formula works — but only when the market, the moment, and the product all line up. Akino taught us that not every packed room is our room. And knowing which rooms are ours is exactly the kind of edge that compounds over time.
Same board. Sharper players.
That's the move this month. More soon. 🫖
