In 2023, jetsetters once again savoured the good life with Le Méridien with new additions to the beloved Au Soleil programme. Over the years, Au Soleil has evolved to celebrate the leisurely aspects of the summer season which include the perfect sunscreen, the ease of golden hour and, of course, a glass of crisp rosé. In 2023, we reinvigorated the programme with Whispering Angel Rosé. The French rosé was toasted across properties and, in partnership with TikTok-famous chef Meredith Hayden, its flavor profile was reimagined in the form of rosé sorbet for another one of Le Méridien’s signature programmes, Le Scoop.

To drive buzz around the Au Soleil program, we teamed up with social media’s favorite chef and tastemaker - Meredith Hayden (@WishBoneKitchen) - to create a rosé infused sorbet as a nod to Le Meridien’s ever-present invitation for travellers to chase an endless summer. Meredith traveled to the heart of Provence where the Whispering Angel vineyards reside to seek inspiration. She then partnered with Le Meridien Monaco’s executive chef to develop the recipe and later debuted the limited-edition rosé sorbet to media and influencers at Le Meridien Lav Split.

Meredith documented the sorbet recipe development and her accompanying stays at Le Meridien properties across Instagram in the form of 3 reels, 1 carousel and 3 story set in addition to participating in brand-led video production which fully integrated her into the Au Soleil story:

• Reel 1: Finding Inspiration – Touring the Whispering Angel vineyard and pulling inspiration from the signature Whispering Angel rosé with its medium to light body with subtle notes of fruits and florals. This then led to the rosé sorbet development with the Le Méridien Monaco executive chef where the pair chose a strawberry base to complement the rosé.

• Reel 2: How to Make a Sorbet Sidecar – Meredith demonstrated how to use the new sorbet sidecar, featuring both Whispering Angel rosé and the new rosé sorbet in a unique presentation vessel

• Reel 3: Unveiling the Sorbet – Meredith then documented her travels to Split, Croatia where she helped kick off the Au Soleil season – sampling Le Méridien’s petit plates, sipping on rosé at golden hour, spending time soaking up the sun, and, of course, debuting the new rosé sorbet presented in the sorbet sidecar.

Additional influencers (3) were invited to toast the summer and the partnership and content was amplified with paid media on Meta.

Meredith’s rosé sorbet was available at more than 30 Le Méridien properties, extending the partnership’s impact and engagement across the globe.