The NEPwas 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.
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.
