Smirnoff Canada took its media strategy airborne Sunday night with a dance party suspended above the streets of downtown Toronto.

Part of the company’s ‘Be There’ campaign, the dance party, featuring the band USS and dancers on an illuminated stage 40 feet in the air, took advantage of the TIFF crowds.

The stunt was the Canadian kick-off for the global Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project, which will run until Nov. 27. Starting this week, Smirnoff will be using its Facebook page to collect ideas from fans on what nightlife in Canada means to them. Meanwhile, Smirnoff drinkers in 13 other countries will be doing the same.

The ideas will be narrowed down and on Oct. 23, they’ll be packed into a crate and sent to one of the other countries taking part in the party exchange. In return, Canada will receive a crate. A month later, on Nov. 27, Canada will celebrate in the fashion of its exchange country (a.k.a. party like a German).

The target market for the campaign is 29-year-old males, and the ad buy, handled by Mediacom in Toronto, is focusing on TV, with a six-week tie-in with MTV Canada as the centrepiece. Radio, OOH and Facebook ads will drive consumers to the Facebook site. It’s the first time Smirnoff has used social media so extensively in a media campaign, a spokesperson for the brand said.

JWT in Montreal handled the TV creative, with Toronto’s Traffik Group for below the line, and Mississauga’s Mosaic for experiential.