From Russia with Vodka

“In the David & Goliath story, nobody roots for Goliath – and that’s us,” Steven Savino , VP at the precursor to Diageo and head of Smirnoff said in our first meeting.

Smirnoff was the biggest-selling vodka in the world, supplying more than 150 million barrels to bars, restaurants, and homes everywhere.? Often regarded as the “well” brand (meaning it was not on the shelf/visible. If you ordered a “vodka & cranberry” Smirnoff is likely what you got), it was nevertheless the biggest seller.

At the time, it did not seem that way because Michel Roux, the genius marketer who delivered Sweden’s Absolut to the US, making an icon of that bottle shape and redefining American spirits marketing, had moved to Stoli running a similar game plan of heavy advertising and cultural connection.

It was the mid-1990s and this was the beginning of the “black-label” wars in spirits – from Premium to Super Premium to what we defined as ULTRA Premium (top that fellas!). And it was Game On!

Pierre (Pyotr) Vladimir Smirnoff refined the distillation process for Russia’s ‘water of life.’ He was friends with Mendeleev, the father of the Periodic Table. He possessed the Royal Warrant to the Czars as the purveyor of vodka for the Royal Family of Russia. In the same way, Louis Vuitton was the “official luggage maker to the French aristocracy.”

The Bolshevik Revolution changed all that and ended the Russian aristocracy and all those who served its court, including Smirnoff. He fled to France and ultimately his name and distillation recipe found their way to the US.

For the first time since 1917, Smirnoff would be manufactured in Russia – and it would be called “Smirnoff Black.” Goliath in a tuxedo…. It was our job to tell the story

MY FIRST INTEGRATED MARKETING CAMPAIGN

Working with Lisa Kovitz , Ruth Sarfaty , and Annemarie Cairns and a host of other talented professionals we aligned on one truth – no one in the US really knew ANYTHING about Russia. What they knew was that the word CZAR meant leader or king. Apart from that, they appreciated little about our Cold War adversary. Research at the time showed that drinkers who ordered Absolut, the industry juggernaut, and cranberry did not even know Absolut was vodka – let alone that it was Swedish.

Those people were our target.

We had our premise – it was all about the CZAR. Now it was about engagement.

Our plan was bold. At the time, it was unprecedented. Long before brands insisted different disciplines collaborate, we knitted together and led Smirnoff’s various agency partners into one cohesive force. We built a $1 million integrated campaign leading up to 4 activations in one night spread all over Manhattan.

In short:

Advertise: Full-page newspaper ads, sniping posters scattered around town, and tent cards in bars carried the inciteful question: Are you Ready to Be CZAR? Trade publications announced the planned rollout.

Audience segmentation: Cultural drivers in the spirits game can be identified by industry: fashion (large LGBTQ+ population); Wall Street (money); Advertising (the tastemakers themselves – think MadMen) and who caters to all these drinkers? Bartenders! We named them Czartenders for that night.

By identifying a leader in each industry, we created an event to salute them and their community – making news and waves off the back of each event.

Direct Mail: Invitations were sent by segment based on lists we procured – we began “involving” our target early – turning the ads into actual invitations…

Activations: 4 events in one day – kicking off with a “Czartini” lunch at Madison Avenue’s famous watering hole: The Monkey Bar featuring ad legend Jerry Della Femina.

Next, we held market closing cocktails at Harry’s at Hanover Square – one of Wall Street’s oldest landmark locations - hosted by none other than Bear Sterns head Ace Greenberg.

Our evening event saw designer Bill Blass at a club being crowned the Czar of Seventh Avenue surrounded by deconstructed Cossack go-go dancers in golden cages while guests tasted Smirnoff Black and danced until the wee hours.

Finally, we knew the bartender and server crowd was vital to the brand’s success. We wooed them with a party meant just for them. Most got off work between midnight and 2 a.m. We invited them to “unwind” and allow us to treat them as ‘royalty for a night’ as we served them Smirnoff Black at The Tribeca Bar & Grill.

I cannot explain the feeling of seeing all these industry celebrities don the Czarist crown and cape and hold the scepter we made for these ‘crowning ceremonies.’ Satisfying is not strong enough!

SUCCESS! In Spite of Pushback from Sales!

This program took months to produce, and we met with a fair share of hurdles along the way. Perhaps the most notable was presenting the concept to the sales team who nearly laughed us out of the room. They felt $1 million for one night was ridiculous and a waste of money that could be better spent greasing palms and putting more tent cards on bar tables.

I was incensed. They could not or would see the effort – and brilliance - this program contained. All that effort paid off – sales were 116% above expectation within weeks of launch (ultimately topping 200% by the end of half-year). Moreover, we opened venues for the brand they had never been able to penetrate. All because the idea was so compelling. Needless to say, we were the sales team's best friends after the numbers rolled in.

Smirnoff saw its first-ever review in the New York Times. We garnered broadcast television at a time when spirits were not allowed to advertise on network TV. The trade, circumspect that Goliath could pull off this delicate launch, was supportive and frankly, impressed.

Our team went on to win some lovely awards that year based on this program and I learned a great deal. Through today’s lens, this program may seem quaint, or overly complex. It was how we had to do things in a time before cell phones – let alone social media. It’s difficult to explain all the nuances here but the lessons I learned creating and executing that program remain with me today. It was a breakthrough for the time and still one of the best spirits launch stories you’ll find…

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