Absolut selects Aspen Latino

Absolut Vodka has tapped Aspen Latino to manage on-premise events for its “Global cooling” campaign.

The agency will be in charge of events aimed at urban, sophisticated, Hispanic consumers in their 20s. More than 250 “Global cooling” events — which urge consumers to take action against global warming — will be held in bars and lounges in New York, Miami and Los Angeles dur­ing the seven-month program.

Paul Stringer, EVP of Aspen Latino, outlined the target audience and was confident in his agency’s ability to reach it. “Aspen Latino has the resources on a national and local scale to pull off a pro­gram as complex, as innovative and dis­tinctive as this,” he said. “We’re targeting a more sophisticated Hispanic consumer without being élitist and without being too exclusive. It’s a more elusive target that requires a lot of resources coupled with the market knowledge.”

At campaign events, Absolut will donate $1 to an environmental charity for each Absolut cocktail purchased; the cocktails come with a code, which must be regis­tered online in exchange for the dona­tion. Events also feature Absolut global cooling stations — interactive areas where partygoers can construct personal “envi­ronmental mug shots.”

“‘Global cooling’ is educational, but we wanted to make it fun and engage customers and partners to really get involved in doing something posi­tive for the environment,” said Terry Williams, director on-premise at Absolut Spirits Co.

Absolut, a worldwide brand, has executed Hispanic mar­keting campaigns before, but these events represent a new approach for the vodka brand. Williams credited Aspen’s event experience in Hispanic marketing as key factors in the account win.

“There are a lot of agen­cies that do promotions or event marketing, but to operate in a bar or lounge or club is different and difficult,” he noted. “Events in that environment have loud music and loud talking and lots of people, and to really execute in a scenario where people, for the most part, only want to talk to you for 10 seconds, you really have to be organized, crisp, detailed and to the point.”

A core team of four is working on the Absolut account for Aspen, assisted by teams of 15 in each regional market. Stringer also cited Aspen’s 7,500-name staff­ing database, which is used to staff all events, as a major strength for the agency.

“This is a huge initiative for us, and this is one small aspect,” Williams said. “Success for us is people knowing what global cool­ing is; [ideally] we create aware­ness and empower people to go out and make a difference and make the Absolut world come to life. It’s about impressions, aware­ness and engaging consumers, cus­tomers and partners.”