CASE STUDY: ABSINTHE MATA HARI SPONSORS THURSDAY DRINK NIGHT

The Brief: With the return of legalized absinthe to the US market Austrian distiller Fischer Schnaps began importing Absinthe Mata Hari in late 2008. Partnering up with marketing agency the Brand Action Team, Fischer Schnaps launched a campaign to introduce this "mixable absinthe" to communities of cocktail enthusiasts in key markets. Reaching out to noted cocktail bloggers, the Brand Action Team began sponsoring drink nights at local wi-fi enabled bars: mixologists meet to develop original recipes based on Absinthe Mata Hari, and share the results via live chat. But how to publicize this activity, put faces to names, and get out the word on absinthe's return to the US? And how to give the bloggers valuable content that would highlight their original creations? coBRANDiT's Role: Armed with a single Flip Mino HD camera, coBRANDiT documented the January 22 drink night session at Washington DC's Tabard Inn. The resulting video introduced chat room participants, provided links to their blogs, and contextualized Absinthe Mata Hari in the cocktail scene...as well as showcasing the top drink creations. Within a few days of the event we distributed the video on a variety of platforms and sites, with the Brand Action Team handling outreach and commentary. A "basic training" component was built into the project, with the goal of seeing what could be done with simple tools...the ultimate intention is to have reps. in local markets documenting events with Flip cameras and sending raw content to coBRANDiT for editing, distribution, and optimization. Results: As of this writing the highly targeted video has been viewed in drink blogs and forums over 2000 times.