Diageo launches biggest ever Smirnoff campaign
Diageo GB today launches its largest ever marketing campaign for its Smirnoff vodka brand.
The £5m campaign commences today with a presence online, before a 60-second commercial is rolled out on August 17 in selected cinemas showing the third film in the 'Bourne' series starring Matt Damon - 'The Bourne Ultimatum'.
It is then launched nationwide on TV on August 20.
At the heart of the campaign is a 60-second commercial entitled 'The Sea', directed by veteran filmmaker Daniel Kleinman, whose credits include music videos, opening sequences to a number of James Bond movies including the latest, Casino Royale, and the recent Guinness ad, 'Evolution'.
The commercial, which cost £1m to make, shows the sea purifying itself by throwing litter, shipwrecks and downed planes back onto dry land - which Diageo likens as a metaphor for Smirnoff's own triple-distilled purity.
Smirnoff senior brand manager, Diageo GB, Julie Bramham said: "Historically the creative campaigns that have been used to promote Smirnoff have helped build the brand to its market leading position.
"Smirnoff is perceived by more than three-quarters of consumers to be the highest quality vodka and with 'Sea' we've found a new and innovative way to highlight the extraordinary lengths it goes through to achieve its purity.
"We're confident the campaign will assist licensees to further benefit from the Smirnoff sales opportunity."
Further activity includes an online interactive game, where users can operate a virtual cannon to fire items such as a bicycle and a caravan at a target on a beach.
To coincide with the launch of the campaign, Diageo GB is investing a further £500,000 in point-of-sale kits that highlight the purity of Smirnoff and different serve suggestions.
The kits will include a training CD that demonstrate Smirnoff serves, as well as branded ice buckets, bar runners, posters and drip mats.
