Brand: Absolut Raspberri
Company: Absolut Company Inc./V&S Vin & Spirit AB
Category: Vodka
Launched: September 2004
First time in the brand's 25-year history, Absolut company goes on television to promote their latest flavor addition, Absolut Raspberri.
"With cable networks increasingly accepting advertising from spirits companies, TV is now a very siable medium to reach our target consumers. In addition, TV can assit in establishing immediate awareness with your target audience, which was our main goal in using TV for Absolut Raspberri," says Lorne Fisher from Absolut's PR agency.
The commercial begins with an oversized Absolut Raspberri bottle with a halo background as seen on their print ads. As the scene progresses, the artists appear and use the bottle as a canvas to "unleash the raspberry." A still camera captures the process every 30 seconds to illustrate the complete evolution of Raspberri "street art" on the bottle. The commercial airs on SPIKE TV, E!, BET, USA, VH-1, and FX.
"By collaborating with street artists we have developed an exciting idea that translates their energy and enthusiasm into a comprehensive multimedia campaign,"said Patrick O'Neill, creative director at TBWA\Chiat\Day\New York.
The same concept is also seen in the print ads on consumer magazines such as Blender, Sports Illustrated, Men's Journal, Entertainment Weekly, Cosmopolitan and more. The same ads will be seen in outdoor advertising including bus shelters, wild postings and wallscapes in New York, Miami, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago.
"Extending the brand's affiliation with art, in this case street art, will help differentiate Absolut while speaking to our target consumer (21 - 29) who already enjoys flavored vodka." - Matthias Aeppli, VP of Marketing, Absolut Spirits Company Inc.
To make this happen, Absolut selected four artists, David Ellis, Kenji Hirata, Phil Frost and Maya Hayuk.
Maya Hayuk recently moved to New York and describes her experience with Absolut "super fun."
Cocktail Times) What was it like to work with Absolut?
Hayuk) I grew up looking at Absolut's savvy endorsements of incredible artists to promote their vodka forever, and every single ad was eye catching and unique. The whole project, from start to finish, took less than a month for it to be up and running. It was comfortable and casual, because I had total creative control and the art director, Lauren Harwell, was amazing to work with. I get such a thrill seeing my work in publication and multiples. There's something so populist and democratic about art in reproduction that is very appealing to me and how I approach my art practice.
Cocktail Times) Absolut describes your style of art as "street art." Do you agree with the description? And what's your definition of "street art"?
Hayuk) No one has really been describing my work as "street art" for a while. I did my share of acrawling onto things I wasn't 'supposed' to but most of the work I did out of doors ("on the street") was commissioned, legal murals. I lived in San Fransisco for 10 years and the tradition of mural painting is something alien to east coasters and just straight lost on most of America.
"Street art" is pretty much a tender euphemism for "graffiti." I would love to make massive murals on the sides of buildings, walls or bridges. Does that make me a "street artist"? I don't think so. My work employs many formal similarities to "street art" - bright colors, graphic elements, accessible imagery, not overly conceptual content. I think the term "street art" is a marketing cop-out because history hasn't come up with a better way to describe the genre and companies are constantly searcing out the "next" demographic, which is in continual flux. It's usually people who aren't artists themselves who are obsessed with "packaging" and "Genre-typing" styles of art, music and writing.
Cocktail Times) How would you describe a successful innovation? And how did you take your innovative approach to this particular project?
Hayuk) I found it highly innovative to research, value and pay attention to what was going on in the art world outside of the "system." Was it innovative for them to create a new flavor of vodka that all of their competitors already product? You tell me.
Maya Hayuk has shown her work in New York and abroad including Tokyo, London and Paris, using hard-edge abstraction to riff on everything from corporate America to bodega simulacra. Hayuk earned a BFA in Conceptual Art and Philosophy studying in Boston, Toronto and Odessa, Ukraine.
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