Smirnoff axes 'Nightlife Exchange'

By Alex Brownsell, marketingmagazine.co.uk, Tuesday, 09 October 2012 08:00AM

Smirnoff is scrapping its multimillion-pound 'Nightlife Exchange Project' global experiential activity after just two years.

Smirnoff: dropping activity

Since 2010, the vodka brand held a series of events where cities and countries ‘exchanged’ their nightlife. Last year, the activity was fronted by pop star Madonna, who promoted an online dance competition.

Michelle Klein, vice-president of global marketing communications and digital for Smirnoff, said: "We had two fantastic years with 'Nightlife Exchange'. The question I was being asked was, 'where do you go after Madonna, with the volume sales and equity up?' When you’re on a high, it’s a great time to do a reinvention."

A Diageo insider said the company wanted to switch to an ‘always on’ marketing approach instead of basing activity around one major push.

Smirnoff will now focus solely on a campaign to inspire people to create nightlife experiences, under the fresh global tagline ‘Yours for the making’.

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk