Yesterday, Diageo’s Smirnoff brand brought its current global campaign to Canada. The multi-platform marketing initiative celebrating the vodka’s Imperial Russian heritage broke in Europe last month. Two 30-second TV spots created by JWT NYC, dubbed ‘Signature,’ began an initial three-week run on CTV in major Canadian markets as well as about a dozen specialty channels, with media buys by Toronto’s Starcom MediaVest. Print and outdoor elements, currently in the works at Toronto’s Strategic Objectives, will appear later.
But it’s Smirnoff’s newly redesigned website and digital platform (created by AKQA’s NYC branch) that’s the top engagement component of the campaign. It was created to draw users further into the brand story about how the heritage vodka has evolved. ‘Few people know the epic story behind the brand,’ says Smirnoff Canadian brand director Keith Gillespie. ‘We wanted to engage people with the brand by illustrating the dramatic journey it has undergone.’
In each of several chapters of the Smirnoff story, there are interactive ‘hot spots’ that allow visitors to virtually write themselves in by sharing milestones in their own lives. The site technology then prepares personalized ‘Video Journeys’ of consumers’ stories, which they can share with others online.
