The Campaign

This year, Smirnoff canceled its biggest EDM festival at RCA and told everyone to go home… because that’s where our DJ lineup was going to play! Why suffer a sea of strangers when you can party with your best friends and music idols in the comfort of your bedroom? From 3 winners’ houses, we live streamed the ultimate Songkran house parties and managed to upstage some of the biggest music festivals in RCA combined – all with just a fraction of their spending.

The Brief

xxx

Creative Execution

April 1 – Smirnoff announced the cancellation of its big Songkran EDM festival on billboards next to other brands' festival grounds. Instead, we told everyone to go home… and take Thailand’s top DJs to play in their bedrooms, courtesy of Smirnoff. April 3-8 – On Smirnoff's social media, we offered to send our DJ lineup to play at selected winners' home venues under the condition that participators forfeit their tickets to other brands’ music festivals. April 13-15 – We delivered the most radical DJ parties to 3 home owners who disavowed their EDM festival plans in the most dramatic ways. We live streamed the 3 "Non-Festival" house parties on Smirnoff's social media, stealing the spotlight from the biggest music festivals and setting the Internet on fire with excitement and envy.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

The announcement of Smirnoff's music festival cancellation generated buzz and interest both online and offline (including billboards in RCA festival area). For the social media contest, a total of 631 people offered to forfeit their festival tickets in exchange for Smirnoff's DJ lineup to play at their houses. During the 3 days of Smirnoff's Songkran activation campaign, the live stream of the "Non-Festival" house parties received over 247,000 live views, which surpassed the total number of attendees at the biggest Songkran music festivals combined. In this time, the campaign's social media engagements (likes, comments, shares) totaled at over 608,000, which is approximately triple that of the social media engagements in and around RCA.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

In Thailand, Songkran water festival is synonymous with the biggest EDM festivals sponsored by alcohol brands, including Smirnoff. But this year, Smirnoff pulled a 180 on everyone and canceled its big Songkran music festival. Instead, the brand sent Thailand's top DJs to perform in the consumers' houses to create the most memorable Songkran party experiences unlike any other brand's. Welcome to the first ever homemade EDM "Non-Festivals."

This Songkran, Smirnoff's strategy was to attract mass-market Thai young adults who craved the best party experiences – with a new way to celebrate the festivities that is much more unique and memorable than the ubiquitous EDM festivals in RCA. While other competitor brands were promoting their traditional Songkran events, Smirnoff stole their thunder by canceling its own highly anticipated EDM party on billboards in the middle of the festival grounds. Instead, we'd send our DJ lineup straight to consumers' homes, because that's a much more interesting and direct way to enjoy a music festival. The "Non-Festival" parties were live streamed for maximum impact and minimal investment. Integrating disruptive online and offline communications and activations, Smirnoff would generate a higher brand awareness and cut-through than competitor brands at a fraction of their cost.