• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, December 19, 2007

Absolut Vodka is teaming up with TouchTunes, which operates a network of interactive jukeboxes in bars and clubs, for a place-based ad campaign promoting its new pear-flavored vodka, Absolut Pears. The two-week campaign, set to debut Dec. 20, will appear on 10,000 of TouchTunes' 30,000 digital jukeboxes around the country. It hopes to reach a wide audience of 21- to-34-year-olds during New Year's celebrations.

The graphic element of the campaign consists of two digital "billboards" that appear repeatedly throughout the interaction. The interactive element invites the user to fill out a survey that collects data about consumer preferences and brand awareness for the Absolut Pears brand. According to TouchTunes, its digital jukeboxes attract heavy traffic--playing 1.4 million songs per day, and providing many opportunities to engage users.

There is growing interest among advertisers in using bars and clubs to reach a young, relatively affluent audience. In March, Arbitron released a study that found 50% of American adults over the age of 21, or about 105 million people, had visited a bar within the last month. Moreover, 31%--or 65 million people--had been to a bar in the last week.

According to Arbitron, they include a higher percentage of self-described "early adopters" than the population at large. Some 27% of monthly bar-goers consider themselves "early adopters," versus 18% overall.

Digital jukeboxes are a particularly popular way to reach bar-goers. TouchTunes competitor Ecast ran interactive campaigns for Miller High Life and Bacardi this summer--the latter achieving a 13% click-through rate, according to the media planners.

Another study from Arbitron, performed for Ecast, found that bar-goers had a 43% recall for advertising delivered via Ecast. Arbitron's study canvassed bar patrons in New York, Seattle and Columbus, Ohio in the summer of 2006.