Flight of the Kiwis

Vodka may not be the first thing you associate with New Zealand: the country’s rugby heritage, its green image, spectacular landscape, its increasing reputation for winemaking and even its massive sheep population are more likely to spring to mind than any thoughts of hard liquor production. However, the ongoing success of the irreverent – and intrinsically Kiwi – vodka brand 42Below could well change all of that.

The origins of 42Below were based on a very simple premise. While taking a flight from Chicago to New Zealand, former Saatchi and Saatchi ad executive Geoff Ross came across an ad for SKYY vodka that boasted how it was made from the pure waters of California. With an abundance of this natural ingredient back home in New Zealand, Ross mused that if vodka’s No 1 attribute is purity, why not produce and market it to the world from a country renowned for that very quality?

Convinced he was on to something, he spent the next couple of years toiling away in his Wellington garage developing his new alcoholic beverage before leaving his advertising job to focus full time on the business in 2002. Today, this premium, international award-winning vodka, which was bought by Barcardi in 2006 for NZ$138m (€62m), competes at the high-end of the market against the likes of Sweden’s Absolut and Dutch-made Ketel One. The company has diversified its product range over the years and now also produces South gin, Stil vodka and 420 spring water, as well as different flavours of its flagship vodka. 42Below vodka is now sold in 22 countries and last year saw its sales increase by 61pc.

Showing what is really important about New Zealand is at the heart of the brand. The name 42Below reveals one of its most unusual features – its indisputable Kiwiness. The name refers to 42 degrees latitude south of the equator – a setting that is regarded as a world benchmark for air purity – and also the location of its birthplace. “When people think of New Zealand they think of sheep and it being green, pure and pristine,” says Paul Dibbayawan, who was appointed CEO of the company two years ago. “But it’s not just about that – there is a real element of ingenuity in New Zealand.”

But what really set it apart in a marketplace already cluttered with European vodkas? According to Dibbayawan, 42Below owed its success in the early days to a blend of “unexpected, unique and quirky” marketing practices. With little spare cash to throw at marketing in the initial stages, there was a pressing need for creative thinking in order to achieve the necessary cut through.

And it appears to have worked. A radically different take on the world ensured the brand stood head and shoulders above its competitors, says Dibbayawan. “At the early stages of getting 42Below out into the market and on shelves, its ads had an incredible knack of jumping on the topic du jour and managing to add to the debate.”

Despite his strong agency credentials, Ross’s marketing vision for the business was rooted in going with his instinct around how the brand would be portrayed rather than a devised strategy. “It was more that he picked up ideas as he went along,” explains Dibbayawan. “He was not really a big believer in strategy but rather went with his gut instinct. Ideas for marketing were more likely to seize upon an opportunity presented from something relevant and ‘now’ in the marketplace. It was about attaching itself to the hot topic of the moment and being able to get it out there.

“The message 42Below propagated either resonated with or offended people. There was no in-between. It makes people have a point of view. PC marketing is to be expected, so 42Below didn’t follow the norm.”

From the outset, the focus was on going against the grain and if competitors went left, 42Below was determined to go right. Or, as Dibbayawan puts it, “zigging when the others zagged”. This approach resonated well with the public and created an emotional attachment, according to Dibbayawan. “It was really breaking the norm in advertising and marketing circles.”

Among the most effective ad campaigns, he says, was ‘The story of New Zealand’ . “This poked fun at ourselves and was quite successful as it touched a lot of areas in a humorous style, such as the rivalry we have with Australia.”

Another memorable ad that went up on billboards, Dibbayawan recalls, was the ‘Drink it straight or gay’ campaign. And, not surprisingly, this campaign elicited both positive and negative reactions from the public. “Love it or hate it, we try to be honest about what is going on in the world. Again, it comes back to having a point of view.”

Having a point of view in a humorous way was also evident in the ‘Indian Call Centre’ ad . “At the time, New Zealand was closing down a lot of facilities and moving to India. It was very topical and a big debate existed around this. We weren’t trying to make a political statement, but again rather poking fun at ourselves.”  

Success in the early days was also helped along by using viral marketing to its advantage – one notable and typically controversial viral promotion offered a trip to Russia to find a wife as a competition prize.

“We’d send the mail out to the New Zealand community worldwide and in no time at all it would have literally gone around the world. 42Below was quick to latch on to the idea of viral marketing, so it was very clever from that perspective.” However, Dibbayawan questions how effective viral promotions would be to a start-up these days, given their now commonplace use by brands.

Despite being taken over by Bacardi at the end of 2006, and the departure of Geoff Ross from the business a year later, the company’s founding guiding principles of creativity and pushing boundaries remain intact. The new owners made it clear that they wanted to keep the brand’s personality, culture and edginess. “Bacardi wanted us to keep walking that fine line between offensive and safe, while all the time pushing out the boundaries that had made it such a success in the first place,” explains Dibbayawan.

The latest campaign is ‘Attack on Adland’, which, in true irreverent form, takes a pot shot at ad agency people, he says. “It’s important to note the brand is still very much at a young stage of evolving. It still has that independent ability and voice of the past and plans to take it to a new level of edginess.” 

The brand has also made a point of trying to engage the taste influencers and one PR exercise, in particular, has played a significant role in 42Below’s worldwide penetration. Recognising early on that those in the bar trade were crucial to the success of 42Below, the company launched the Cocktail World Cup competition in 2004. True to form, it was an audacious experiment.

The event involved 42 top bartenders from around the world being invited to New Zealand to compete against each other to create the best cocktail, while attempting an extreme sport at the same time. Contestants were challenged to make a cocktail while bungee jumping, white water rafting or parachuting out of an aeroplane. The competition aimed to knit together all that was great about New Zealand with this indigenous brand, says Dibbayawan.

“We really wanted to engage with bartenders around the world and make some noise at the same time. It was quite a smart way of generating a lot of publicity. As a result, these 42 people immediately fell in love with the brand and went back to their countries and effectively became ambassadors of it.” The competition has taken place several times since, with the next event planned for next year.

Another revolutionary step taken to seed the brand in the right circles was its presence at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. 42Below commissioned 42 well-known directors, including David Lynch and James Franco, to each make a 42-second film depicting their own personal interpretation of dreams as its theme. Accredited by the Cannes Film Festival Society, a selection of the films was screened at the event.

“In being part of this we are facilitating creativity and provoking a point of view – both of which serve to make life interesting. Having a presence at Cannes as an actual content provider helps us to engage and be credible in the film world. It’s about influencing the influencers and, as a result, people will advocate the brand on their own. What we’re trying to do is pick the right communities with like-minded people in which to place the brand.”

42Below will no doubt continue pushing boundaries and treading a fine line between funny and offensive in order to differentiate itself from its competitors. According to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is 42. Whether that’s true or not, the answer to the perfect marketing campaign might well be 42Below.

This article first appeared in Marketing Age magazine.