Jackie Huba found this article: A cut above from the Sydney Morning Herald. To launch its new Vodka brand in Australia Absolut have ditched conventional advertising in favour of word-of-mouth.
Absolut has taken out a short lease on two pubs – one in Sydney’s Surry Hills the other in Melbourne’s St Kilda – hired bands DJs and put on a photographic exhibition on life in five state capitals. Visitors to the Absolut Cut bar will get a free bottle of Cut and eventually the public will be given a chance to contribute their photos, generating what Absolut hopes will be a viral element to the campaign.
The word-of-mouth approach is one that Carlton United Beverages is also adopting, having learned that big bold advertising does not always work when launching a brand to a younger discerning audience. In 2003, a large TV ad campaign announced the arrival of a new beer, Empire, aimed at much the same drinker as Cut is targeting – 18 to 29-year-olds. The beer flopped.
Viral doesn’t have to be net-based.
