"Exclusively for Everybody"

FORGET ABOUT THE COOL KIDS.

Smirnoff was looking for a new global brand platform that would connect them to a new generation, introduce the brand back into culture, and set the standard for vodka.

The Smirnoff brand had been idle for too long, and was suffering from the "too-cool" image taking over Vodka. The vodka category had become a vapid, indulgent space with no realistic credibility and an exclusive, 1% mentality.

To reposition Smirnoff, we looked beyond the coveted 'creative class' niche audience and instead focused on the healthy majority. After all, Smirnoff started as a popular spirit that united the social classes. Using global ethnographic research, we discovered Smirnoff’s true audience were people around the world with a shared value in inclusive, good-times. Smirnoff had the chance to answer their call.

We pitched a platform that undermined the category's "too-cool" image while reinstating what good times are meant to be: Shared by everybody. The first campaign, “Exclusively for Everybody”, ran in the United States. Global “We’re Open” campaigns followed suit shortly afterwards.

The new platform and philosophy of ‘Inclusivity’ took like wildfire throughout the brand, enabling Smirnoff to launch a multitude of local campaigns, globally, in the last three years. Smirnoff’s ‘Exclusively for Everybody’ campaign halted decline in the US, and delivered depletion growth within the year.

More importantly, the world of ‘blue vodka’ is on its way out, and I’d like to think we had a little something to do with it.