ABSOLUT - THIS IS OUR HOUSE

Silver Eurobest
TitleABSOLUT - THIS IS OUR HOUSE
BrandPERNOD RICARD NEDERLAND
Product/ServiceABSOLUT VODKA
Category F05. Use of Licenced or Remastered Music for a Brand or Campaign
Entrant FIRST DAY OF SPRING Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Idea Creation FIRST DAY OF SPRING Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Media Placement VIZEUM Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
PR HET PR BUREAU Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Production SINCE '88 Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Production 2 MODERN DAY COMPOSERS Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Credits
Name Company Position
Simon van Gorkum First Day of Spring Creative Director
Floortje van den Elshout First Day of Spring Associate Creative Director
Peter Kan First Day of Spring Chief Executive Officer
Evert-Jan Heijmans First Day of Spring Strategy Director
Estelle Goldman - Peek First Day of Spring Project Manager
Anne Brugts First Day of Spring Copywriter
Koen Koopman First Day of Spring Designer
Nick Harmsen Since '88 Film Director
Daan Dagevos Since '88 Production Manager
Douwe Hennink Since '88 DOP Lighting Cameraman
Pieter Ceizer Studio Ceizer Design artist
Boy Bianchi Modern Day Composers Music Artist
Daan van citters Since '88 Film Director Assistent
Marie-Laure Raadsen Pernod Ricard Nederland Brand Manager
Casper de Wit Pernod Ricard Nederland Brand Ambassador
Devon Murray First Day of Spring Designer

The Campaign

‘You may be black, you may be white, you may be Jew or Gentile... It don’t make a difference in our house.’ Back in 1987, Chuck Roberts expressed the values of equality and tolerance in house music culture with his classic vocal track ‘My House’. We wanted to remind people of these values in current-day nightlife. So Absolut and a team of 17 Amsterdam nightlife icons welcomed dance enthusiasts from all over the world to Amsterdam Dance Event, with a purposeful statement: on the dancefloor, everyone is equal. The nightlife icons launched this statement in the central campaign video in which the icons performed Roberts’ lyrics.

Creative Execution

Campaign set-up and timeline On 19/09/17 the campaign video was distributed online on the Facebook and YouTube channel of Absolut Netherlands and played in arthouse cinemas. Media partner VICE interviewed the nightlife icons and Chuck Roberts about equality in nightlife, thereby creating a sublayer of content that was published on vice.com between 19/09/17 and 17/09/17. On October 17th, Chuck Roberts officially opened the Amsterdam Dance Event with a live performance of his lyrics, creating a powerful press moment that was covered by Dutch national television. This moment was broadcasted live on Facebook. Chuck Roberts performed at an Absolut branded party during the Amsterdam Dance event. A central part of the campaign video was shown on digital out of home during the Amsterdam Dance Event.

In a period of 5 weeks we reached more than 20 million people in the target audience (millennials) with our campaign, making Absolut the most visible brand during the Amsterdam Dance Event. The central campaign video received a lot of positive reactions (on-and offline) and had a very high completion rate of 61% on YouTube. Some of the thousands of online reactions: “Is it normal to get goosebumps from this?" (Myra J Hill) “This is awesome” (Thom Bold) “Love it” (Corine Quakkelaar) “The only ad I never skip on YouTube, well done” (Anna Sapegina) “Dance unites people” (NRC media) The campaign got 60+ media publications (inter)nationally. The PR event proved very impactful, gaining coverage by the major Dutch newspapers and national television. Video registration of the event - Chuck Roberts, preaching his lyrics - went viral, generated high and positive engagement and was even picked up internationally. Example:https://www.facebook.com/DefectedRecords/videos/10155348031602946/ (3700 shares).

In 1987, Chuck Roberts wrote and performed the lyrics for the house music classic ‘My House’. We licensed this vocal track and used it in our campaign #thisisourhouse for Absolut Vodka. Roberts’ vocals celebrate the values equality and tolerance in house music. Absolut supports inclusivity, freedom of expression and equality since the day the brand was founded.

Millennials expect brands to take a stance and get engaged. To connect Absolut and Amsterdam Dance Event purposefully, we dug into the values of both. Absolut has been supporting freedom of expression and equality since the day it was founded, while equality and tolerance are basic values that the club and music scene have always supported – rooted in house culture that was closely connected with marginalized groups.