Absolutely winning at Facebook

Absolut Vodka is a dream client for me. They’re not that big into human truths or insights they just like to make pretty stuff. I honestly believe that that is what they say on the briefs they give to their agencies “Make me something pa-retty”. They’re print ads normally hold as much sustenance as an episode of the Kardashians, but they are B-E-A-utiful. Their latest campaign by Native, Absolut ZA, is no exception.

Their goal was to establish themselves online and they’ve done this through a campaign on Facebook. They took four artists and got them to design beaded sheaths for the Absolut bottle and then invited designers to submit their design for the fifth bottle on Facebook.

To launch the campaign the four artists they chose to all launched a short Youtube video explaining who they are and their designs. Obviously the Cape Town artist, Athi, was the most lovable creature describing his work as “high camp”. These videos are all short and well edited and they make for some nice quick viewing. The artists that they’ve chosen all come off really well on camera, laughing and joking. They also chose relatable artists from different areas so everyone has their sort of “area ambassador”.

The Facebook page where you can submit your own designs has a great layout. Very easy to use and stylish, which is nice to see as Facebook pages are normally bog standard boring. They also have a design tool which works exclusively on Google Chrome. This is the one area that this campaign falls flat for me. Google Chrome? Come on! I am not going to go and download a new browser just to enter a competition. The act of actually entering a competition has to be incredibly easy (this is why “share and like” competitions are all over Facebook). There is such a fine line between what we will and won’t do to win something. If you actually have Chrome the app is incredible. So much fun! You upload your photo and it then “beads it” and gives you effects to customize it. A procrastinators dream. It’s also incredibly easy to use which means everyone can use it.

The agency behind this campaign, Native, focuses on online work and their portfolio is very impressive. They’ve expanded the online platforms of Isuzu and Jamesons both in an innovative way. They preach, “brands are co-owned by their customers” on their website. They are definitely bringing that mentality into their work. Thoroughly looking forward to what they do next.