Smirnoff is the world’s #1 premium spirit. As such, the brand wanted to make a global statement about its mission to create original nightlife, bringing to life its brand idea “BE THERE.” From this came the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project—an ambitious program that rallied consumers in 14 countries to find the world’s best nightlife, pack it into shipping crates and exchange it around the world in a series of events on November 27, 2010. More than a one-off party, the Nightlife Exchange was a three-month virtual and physical celebration of nightlife for our community of three million+ fans.

Over the 3 months of the program, Smirnoff received over 30,000 nightlife ideas from consumers. It grew its online community by 60% to 3.2M and generated 1.8BN impressions. Thanks to the Exchange, Smirnoff is now ranked the #1 spirit brand in social media (SMR Index, 2011).

For the client, the program has been so successful that it will be repeated in 2011. And perhaps most importantly, the Nightlife Exchange Project gave our community of 3.2 million the opportunity to help create one unforgettable night. A night that brought Smirnoff’s brand idea to life. We allowed people to truly “Be There.”

On Facebook, Smirnoff created a community where people in each country told us about the best of their local nightlife. Nightlife experts curated their country’s crates and designed amazing experiences based on those ideas. MTV cameras documented this journey in weekly webisodes.

Advertising and social media drove people to Facebook to rally support. We dropped real Nightlife Exchange shipping crates in major cities to build intrigue. Parties leading up to November 27 celebrated local nightlife before it was exchanged with the world. Finally, on November 27th , the world swapped nights with huge celebrations in 14 countries.

Quite simply, because Smirnoff can, and as the world’s #1 premium spirit, we should. We wanted to unite our diverse communities around the world in support of something we believe in—unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime experiences. That’s why we made it possible for India to exchange nights with Canada, Brazil with Australia, Argentina with Ireland, even Thailand with Lebanon. Over 100,000 people on 6 continents got a taste of an exotic night out. The Exchange even touched people who didn’t live in the 14 countries that were selected for the event. Consumers in over 170 countries tuned into our live-streams on November 27.