Challenge: Absolut is an icon and shares an artistic bond with NYC, where it first launched in the US in 1979 and was beloved by Andy Warhol and co. However, by 2017 it needed to re-ignite passion around the brand in NYC specifically.
Insight: We need truth and transparency now more than ever. Plus, people think us New Yorkers are rude but we're (usually) just being honest.
Creative: Absolut Truth
To confront the brand’s need for a reintroduction in NYC, I whipped up a campaign called Absolut Truth - focusing heavily on OOH to bring a “hyperlocalized” concept to the street-corner level with copy that spoke directly to 6 different neighborhoods of the city and extended to POS with coasters and more on-premise.
For content, we featured some of the city's most iconic telling their stories, including nightlife legends Michael Musto and Amanda Lepore, DJ Stretch Armstrong, music journalist Lizzy Goodman, the Frankel brothers (of Brooklyn’s Frankel’s Deli), radio personality Miss Info, real housewife Ramona Singer and Dipset's Jim Jones, launched in partnership with New York Magazine. A “one night only” event capped the first year of the campaign at The Box.
Results: The campaign was well-recieved, and sales are up over 30% (and still climbing). PR hits on AdWeek, The Drum and more. The Absolut New Yorker “coffee cup” was a breakout hit, with tens of thousands now available at key accounts around the city.