EACH WEEK, I MAKE THE MOST OF MY DAILY COMMUTE AND GIVE MY TAKE ON SOME OF THE ADVERTISING ON LONDON UNDERGROUND. SOME OF IT'S DECENT, SOME OF IT'S CRAP. THIS WEEK... SMIRNOFF.
The original Smirnoff tube ad.
This weeks MTCG takes a look at the latest marketing campaign from Smirnoff, one of the world's biggest vodka brands and a fixture in my life since my first underage Smirnoff Ice. This latest "We're Open" marketing campaign sees Smirnoff championing LGBT icons and nightlife, and highlighting their partnership with the LGBT Foundation charity,
Firstly, I like the campaign a lot. Aside from a couple of notable exceptions, the LGBT community has been largely ignored by the big drinks brands so I think anything that seeks to rectify this — especially from a brand as big as Smirnoff — should be encouraged. The actual copy in the ad is a little on the nose for my tastes but it works well enough.
For my reworked ad, I've hooked onto the "open" part of the "We're Open" marketing campaign. I feel that "Open up to new possibilities" has a number of possible interpretations which will strengthen the impact of the ad. For me, the "open up" could relate to opening a bottle of Smirnoff, which will loosen your inhibitions and lead to new possibilities during a night out. Or, "open up" could relate to a personal opening up about LGBT issues.
My reworked Smirnoff tube ad.