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    The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project returns

    The Smirnoff brand are bringing back The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project, building on the great success of 2010’s global initiative. Like last year, the vodka brand is encouraging its fans to share what makes their nightlife original and vote for the best ideas. These will be implemented on November 12, the big night. This time, 50 countries all around the globe will be involved in the night swap.

    These one-of-a-kind nightlife parties, which will include music, drinks, places, tastes and dances, will be hosted at special venues: Just like in 2010, people from one country will contribute ideas for a party to be arranged in another country. Last year, the programme was launched in 14 countries (the USA, Australia, Canada, the GB, Thailand, Brazil, and Germany, to name but a few) in 10 different time zones, engaging 2 million people through Smirnoff Facebook fan pages. This year Smirnoff decided to give an opportunity to say ‘I was there’ to as many as 10 million fans, by extending the cultural exchange project to include 50 countries in total. Some of the countries involved are Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Dubai, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Israel, Serbia, US and Vietnam (find the full list in the press release)

    This year, the Smirnoff brand also partnered with Madonna in a search for “the Most Original Nightlife in the Universe”, to find the best dancer to join Madonna’s next tour.

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    Revellers worldwide are invited to co-create and participate in the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project by contributing ideas on what makes their local nightlife distinct in the categories of drinks, dance, fashion, music, places, and more creating a nightlife cocktail of unique events. The most inspiring suggestions from each region will be captured online and exchanged with another country on November 12, when the night swap takes place.

    By participating online, fans will have the chance to win a place at one of the global events or experience another country’s party at a Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project event in their own city.

    Find out more on Facebook or Diageo’s homepage.

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    Smirnoff extends its Nightlife Exchange Project

    In January, Diageo GB, which owns the Smirnoff brand, increased its year-on-year digital spend for the spirit by 115%, to build on the Nightlife Exchange Project (NEP), launched last year.

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    The NEP was a global initiative, which discovered and celebrated the best nightlife from around the world in one night, on 27 November 2010. Following the launch of the NEP in London, Smirnoff will now be hosting three more events in the UK.

    Agency RPM, the event planner of the project, has approached students from Hatfield University and given them £4,000 to create a bespoke area at the Hatfield event, which will be held this Saturday (25 March). The project will also go to Edinburgh and yet another location that will be voted on through Smirnoff’s Facebook page in the UK, www.facebook.com/smirnoffgb.

    “The Smirnoff brand is all about originality and creativity, so what better place to look for inspiration than with imaginative students?” said Chris Lock, marketing director at Smirnoff.

    The Smirnoff NEP successfully involves its consumers by inspiring them to partake in the shaping of the best brand experience, created by the brand and shared with the consumers.

    In a move to cement its brand positioning around nightlife and music, Smirnoff is further staging a dance music event in the UK, which will be held in London on 13 August, featuring acrobats, lightshows and sets by well-known DJs.

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    The Experience of Nightlife Exchange Project

    On November 27 last year, Smirnoff set out to show how people from different cultures party, through its Nightlife Exchange Project. 14 countries were engaged in the swap project, and Smirnoff Facebook fans from all over the world contributed with their ideas on the specifics of their country’s nightlife. Together they created a great buzz and a memorable cross-cultural brand experience.

    The Nightlife Exchange Project kicked off with one week of TV advertising, calling on consumers around the world to visit a Smirnoff Facebook page and engage themselves in the project, by submitting their ideas about the best party night out in their country.

    14 countries; Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Ireland, Lebanon, Poland, South Africa, Thailand, Venezuela, UK and United States, took part in the project. Each country was given a special curator who helped out in sorting and selecting the absolutely best party ideas among the most highly-rated Facebook submissions. Submissions could be anything across fashion, food, music and more. A blogger outreach programme was also launched, and Smirnoff tapped into mobiles with its own channel Smirnoff.mob. MTV, Smirnoff’s global tie-up partner, delivered on-air and online coverage of each stage of the project.

    There was a great buzz both before the party swap, as well as after. You don’t have to search the web for long to find comments such as “Definitely looking for the next party if there will be a second nightlife exchange!” and “Looking forward to the next and even bigger Smirnoff Event.”

    As Benjamin Hill, youth writer for MTV Sticky, puts it, “There is something priceless in what Smirnoff did in the sense that they didn’t just create events, they created an experience.” We can’t agree more. By creating an experience, Smirnoff has successfully tapped into the hearts of their consumers. The Nightlife Exchange Project was however not solely about experiences, but emotions, engagement and exclusivity as well.

    Many consumers probably wonder if Smirnoff is going to make a new party swap this year.

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    Music Experiences with beer brand Beck’s


    Beck’s Music Experience

    As a promotion, the beer brand Beck’s gives bands a chance to perform live. The bands battle against each other to convince a jury that they are Beck’s European Newcomer 2010. The winner gets to play on the same stage as world famous French band Phoenix later this year.

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    The music stairway (no, not the Led Zeppelin song)

    The most important question for a brand is not whether they should use music, but rather how the music should be used. The four step ‘music stairway’ illustrates the most beneficial way for brands to work strategically with music.

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    Many brands find themselves on Step One. This step is characterised by the unconscious usage of music. Essentially this is an ad hoc, make-it-up-as-you-go approach, often relying on staff or employees to choose music. The end result is a schizophrenic music experience that sends mixed branding signals to customers.

    Step Two is characterised by a conscious usage of music. Brands have developed their own music identity, through a defined sound with defined values. Often they have a sound logo or theme song. On Step Two, music has evolved into a branding element and strategic tool.

    Moving up to Step Three, a brand becomes even more actively involved in music. This commitment often takes form as music-oriented marketing campaigns ( e.g. “buy and get” promotions) and/or artist partnerships. A good example of a Step Three level of music involvement is Heineken’s ‘Green Room Sessions’ - a live club concept, presenting cutting edge artists and DJs.

    The Forth and final step on the music stairway requires ‘owning’ a strategic platform in music culture. In this scenario, brands are not merely associated with music, but also actively champion music through exclusive platforms or programs that can’t be found anywhere else. The Red Bull Music Academy is a good example of this.

    So the million dollar question is…What step is your brand on?

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    The Ice effect

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    Christmas been completely freezing here in Stockholm with around -15 degrees celcius on average. That is about the same temperature as inside the Absolut Icebars. A joint venture between Absolut Vodka and the Icehotel in Northern Sweden, the company run bars completely made of ice at different locations across the globe. Earlier this year we conducted a study to measure the effect of the music identity we developed and implemented in their bars.

    The result was stunning. It showed that 77% of respondents reported a greatly enhanced experience when the music identity was played (the opposite of when commercial radio was played). And furthermore, the number of respondents who
    wanted to stay longer or come back rose by almost 250%.

    Experience the full Absolut Icebar study here.

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