Sobieski Vodka Readies First Major Consumer Campaign

  • by July 22, 2008
Sobieski VodkaAfter moving 200,000 cases of Sobieski Vodka in less than a year since its U.S. launch, importer Imperial Brands of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., is about to give Poland's No. 1 premium vodka its first major consumer push via a $4 million national ad campaign encompassing magazines, online and outdoor. 

A smaller $1 million trade campaign, launched last spring, was mainly oriented to liquor stores and restaurants.

Continuing with the theme, "Truth in Vodka," the consumer creative from New York shop Meter Industries promises to poke fun at competitors with such taglines as "Sex May Sell, But It Has Nothing to Do with the Making of Great Vodka." Magazines tapped by Imperial's media agency Horizon Media include Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, W and Details, while online outlets include Gothamist and Pandora, and billboards will span major markets across the country.

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Timo Sutinen, vice president of marketing and business development for Imperial Brands, tells Marketing Daily that the push continues to be "extraordinary for a small brand like ours," and that Sobieski's five-year goal is set at a million cases--something he's certain no other vodka brand has ever accomplished.

The $4 million ad campaign does not include a previously announced signage deal with MSG Media for Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall, or a range of other ongoing promotions from liquor store tastings to trade shows.

Other taglines in the consumer campaign include:

• "We Designed a Bottle to Suit the Spirit Inside, Notice the Lack of La-Di-Da"

• "Who Needs Superdelegates? We've Got a Whole Country Behind Us. The #1 Premium Vodka in Poland"

• "The #1 Premium Vodka in Poland. Finally, an Endorsement that Matters."

Echoing the marketing themes of Sobieski's good taste versus its competitors' hype and overpricing, Sutinen refused to attribute the first year's sales achievements to marketing, saying "the whole thing is the good product."

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