File this one under “green spirits.”
The idea that 360 Vodka is trying to create is that it’s a luxury liquor that’s environmentally friendly.
A new campaign from L.A.-based ad agency Sagon-Phior tries to deliver that message with images of lush greenery punctuated by a bottle of pure, clear vodka. With the tagline “Blend In, Stand Out,” the ads feature a green female who conveys “the concept of blending in to the environment to minimize one’s eco-footprint and standing out from the ordinary,” according to the agency.
The campaign “will convey to consumers that they can do their part to reduce our environmental impact, one glass at a time,” said Vic Morrison, vice president of Missouri-based McCormick Distilling Co., which owns the 360 brand.
Sagon-Phior debuted the outdoor and print portions of the campaign in January at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, hosted by environmental icon Robert Redford. In February came outdoor billboards made from recycled materials. Print and online images will reach Los Angeles in June, although the bottles are already on supermarket shelves and at bars in Southern California.
The brand’s promise comes from its manufacturing process, which conserves water, energy, glass and paper. The 360 Web site has a glossary of eco-terminology and suggestions on how consumers can help save the planet.
Talk Up Competitors
PR practitioners and corporate spokespeople in startup industries should talk more about their competitors, according to a new study from the USC Marshall School of Business.
Mark Thomas Kennedy, an assistant professor there, used computer technology and thousands of pages of media coverage to create “mental maps” of how people perceive markets. He concluded that rather than focusing on what makes their product unique, entrepreneurs who publicly mention the competition actually come out ahead in terms of media coverage.
“From business schools and marketing consultants, entrepreneurs are mostly taught that talking about the competition is a dangerous no-no,” said Kennedy. “But in the early stages of new markets, talking just about yourself is even more dangerous. In fact, it actually hurts innovators’ chances of success by increasing the odds they’ll be overlooked or ignored as lone voices.”
The data suggested companies should present themselves as leaders among peers. “You have to dignify the competition to create the market otherwise you are distinct but irrelevant,” Kennedy explained.
88 Million Votes
Superdelegates? What superdelegates?
To promote its 2008 Kids’ Choice Awards, Nickelodeon asked Marketingworks Inc. to recruit 10 million children to pick the winners by popular vote. Nickelodeon, a unit of Viacom Inc., gave the agency some video content, a Web address where the kids could vote and eight weeks to deliver the numbers.
The result?
“The show’s host, Jack Black, announced on air that 88 million votes were cast this year, more than twice last year’s record number of 40 million,” said Chas Salmore, chief executive of Marketingworks, a digital agency in Los Angeles. “These stats have been verified by Viacom, Marketingworks and third-party Web-analytic traffic measurement tools.”
Marketingworks started with a long list of sites and then sent its agents, known as brand ambassadors, to post on blogs, forums, video-sharing hubs, social networks and message boards.
The March 29 show also had the highest ratings in the history of the program, Salmore said.
‘Love the World’
Two astronauts float in space, looking down at the Earth. One says, “It never gets old, does it?” The two break into song, and are joined by select terrestrial singers. Then the entire planet joins in.
It’s the opening scene of “I Love the World,” a 60-second film to promote the Discovery Channel. L.A. agency 72andSunny produced the short to add more 18- to 30-year-olds to Discovery’s aging audience. The ad is currently showing on cable TV and three 30-second spots will follow this summer.
“I Love the World” features some of the channel’s famous faces, including Mike Rowe of “Dirty Jobs,” who sings while descending into a rat-infested sewer; “Mythbusters’ ” Jamie Hyneman, who sets co-host Adam Savage on fire; and astronomer Stephen Hawking.
Agencies & Accounts
Easton Sports in Van Nuys, a manufacturer of baseball and cycling gear, has hired Los Angeles-based ad agency Omelet to move the brand online. Omelet has worked for ABC Inc., Vivendi Universal, and Microsoft Corp., but Easton is its first sports client.
Staff reporter Joel Russell can be reached at
[email protected]
or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 237.
