ABSOLUT

BACKGROUND

Absolut has long championed LGBTQIA+, taking a stand before inclusivity was on every marketeer’s agenda. Whilst celebrating diversity is a space a variety of brands play in nowadays, not all have the authority to do so, with rainbow-washing giving no real support to the community nor their acceptance, and the Trans community is often left out of the conversation.

Despite its history, Absolut was in danger of becoming lost within the noise, so we needed to re-awaken the brand’s iconic status for the next generation.

To bring back the Absolut of old, connect to new audiences, and show up as a brand they could believe in, the #BorntoMix platform was formed. This is a platform that embodies the spirit of Absolut:  whether it’s drinks, ideas, or people, life is most interesting when we mix things up and in the power of unity, we can break conventions and change social discourse.

For #BornToMix to work, we needed it to reach and appeal to a mass audience, and create social buzz, to re-establish Absolut as the progressive and relevant leader it is.

WHAT WE DID

#BornToMix launched earlier in 2022, but didn’t achieve scale, ignite conversation or drive change. To make a difference, we had to break out of our echo chamber of just talking to under-represented voices, and instead talk with them and elevate their voices in mass media.

To broaden #BornToMix’s appeal, the wider campaign’s brand film called upon talent who could cross audience divides. Proudly gay, Olly Alexander (of Years & Years  and It’s a Sin) and Absolut formed a diverse choir of inspiring Talking and singing together they raised the volume on causes that are most important to them.

Creatively we couldn’t clash with this, only amplify the choir’s story with a credible partner to talk with and to our 18-34 audience.

Sitting at the epicentre of social culture, we partnered with the UK’s largest social publisher LADbible, reaching 70% of the UK’s 18-34s. Experts in championing social purpose campaigns (like Blood Without Bias), LADbible gave our previously unheard heroes a platform on which to disrupt, engage and start conversations in an authentic way.

However we faced a barrier in giving the campaign incremental scale, with no access to Olly within our partnership. So through media, we still had to make as much noise as possible to demonstrate the power of mixing to the masses.

With only access to our choir (activists, the Trans Creative Collective and Trans Voices), we dialled up the mixing messaging by bringing 3x creators from LADbible’s network into the fold. In a series of intimate interviews we mixed the views, backgrounds and experiences of our talent across 11x pieces of content with 3x Hero Reel episodes, supported by interactive IG Stories, an IG Carousel, influencer posts, social articles and digital display.

Pushing our Trans representation and call for equality further, Trans Voices co-founder Ila wrote our final article, giving them an editorial voice at the table.

RESULTS

We ignited social conversation achieving 207K engagements (likes, comments, shares, article views), that held our audience’s attention above LADbible benchmarks at a 69% retention rate and 02:51 article dwell time. Giving new scale to the #BornToMix platform, our content was seen by over 11M people (+2M over target) giving a voice to previously unheard voices.

Within the wider media mix, our LADBible activity was the most effective and efficient channel to shift the dial on Absolut being seen as different (53%), credible (55%) and increased intent to purchase to 43%, scoring in the top 80% of all advertising assets tested by Metrix Lab. It delivered the highest share of impact (effectiveness) and highest share of impact relative to the share of spend (efficiency).

Beyond the media, the campaign has created real legacy, with the Trans Creative Collective now a preferred production partner for LADbible.

Change doesn’t happen overnight but campaigns like this will go a long way to telling the right stories, encouraging the right conversations, opening up opportunities, and re-establishing the iconic brand of Absolut.