2/3 of our young urban audience is willing to spend money in live experiences. Nowadays parties are relatively monotonous, extremely fun, yet indistinguishable experiences. Combine that knowing a 1/3 of them are drinking less frequently year-on-year, this was our perfect opportunity to anchor Absolut Nights in their memory: create an experience that had no equal and was going to make an everlasting impact.

Introducing Electrik London: a hyper sensory, mixed reality exploration into the future of nightlife. An experiment that aims to change how people think, react, and engage during a night out, aided by award-winning music, new tech, and Absolut Vodka. The tech: VR technology and Holo-Gauze coupled with collective decompression (where audio influences light) that adapts to our actions and the actions of those around us; and 360 video that enhances experiences and allows people to re-live them digitally.

Electrik London demanded provocative & impactful media channels. The campaign first launched in October, with a teaser video, editorial content, targeted display, and social all driving awareness of the event and ticket sign-up. OOH surround all music areas (Shoreditch, Brixton, etc.) to showcase the brand new technology and music collaborations.

To create an early association and credibility between Absolut and nightlife, we partnered with musical and tech influencers to talk about the event and amplified user generated content.

Paid search and a co-branded competition with Vice were used to drive event registrations, with copy extensions used to further interaction.

We then created a 360 video so the event could live on beyond its physical space and let people feel what it was like to be there, or to remember it. This had substantial organic pick up in the UK and beyond, and is still getting traction 5 months later!

Young millennials partied!

Well, first they remembered to go: the event sold out in two minutes with over 20,000 registrations for the 1000-person event (we took in 1200 in the end!).

After the event, they all had Absolut in mind: organic pick up was unexpectedly high, reaching over 650,000 people. The 360 video had a key role in driving that, with people viewing it over 435,000 times (and counting).

More importantly, they embraced Absolut’s stab at innovative nightlife: the event increased brand equity by 33% for our advocates, something that an Absolut Nights has never done before, leaving only one question unanswered: “when’s the next one?”.