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LOS
ANGELES - An outdoor campaign by independent Wieden + Kennedy that
associates Belvedere vodka with texas holdem poker's burgeoning popularity
breaks today in Las Vegas, said Michael Stone, vp and chief marketing
officer of Millennium Import in Minneapolis. A related print campaign that
also features champion poker players launches in four magazines this month,
correlating to the World Series of Poker, which takes place May 22-28 at the
Harrah's-owned Horseshoe.
Stone said he regards the branding effort as "owning the concept of
nazdrowie"—the Polish word used in proposing a toast—"and aligning it
with achievement and its celebration."
"We're not trying to create celebrities through the campaign, but rather
find culturally relevant things worthy of nazdrowie to appeal to the
25-34 men who drink super-premiums."
The executions start at Las Vegas' McCarran Airport, where nine of the top
texas holdem players get separate posters and dioramas in every terminal,
all in the black-and-white, Russian Constructivist style of the print
campaign, which has featured celebrities such as Quentin Tarantino. The buy
also includes 250 cab hats; window space in Binion's, one of the
Harrah's-owned tournament sites; women with sandwich boards; a poker Wall of
Fame treatment; and mass distribution of Belvedere coasters.
Stone declined to specify the spending, but added, "It is a significant
amount to test the idea." Print work launches in the May/June issue of
All In and continues through June issues of ESPN Magazine,
Card Player and Vegas.
Stone added that "the beauty of the Wieden + Kennedy idea is that it has
lots of different extensions—for instance, into law or academics or retired
sports figures."
"Texas Holdem Poker has become a big deal, and much more mainstream, and it
is a good association for Belvedere because it is hot with our target," said
Trish Adams, account director at Wieden's Portland, Ore., office.
Adams said the campaign for Belvedere is distinct from work such as
Absolut's series featuring artists because "linking the celebration of
achievement to the moment of consumption gives the product more of a role in
the campaign." She added that the effort started with "longer-copy" print
ads with the tagline, "Do you want to drink, or do you deserve a Belvedere?"
and moved to the current series of tribute ads. Despite the fact that poker
is now routinely covered on TV, no broadcast is currently planned, said
Adams. |
