Marketing without limits

By Kari Randen and Trine S. Lunde

With the help of posters and invitations Smirnoff Ice welcomed young people to parties at some of the most popular clubs in Norway. Cool and trendy youth were hired as a "party team", and efforts were made to create a good atmosphere and the right image at the parties. Under the slogan "Intelligent Nightlife" Smirnoff Ice went on tour all over Norway with music and cheap drinks to launch their new product. The importer violated Norwegian alcohol advertising legislation and lost their import licence for a period of six months.

Alcohol advertising is illegal in Norway. Nevertheless, the alcohol industry continuously tries to bypass the legislation and promote their products.

The Smirnoff Ice Experience

In spring 2002, Smirnoff Ice was launched as a new product in Europe. In Norway this happened through a promotional tour.

Wherever the tour appeared, the organisers invited a few, specially selected guests. These guests received a personal invitation in the mail. For such events, it is important to persuade the trendsetters to show up, and, by sending out exclusive invitations, you increase the chances that the event reaches the right audience. But the parties were open to others, too. A short time in advance, posters were put up in the different cities, informing about the upcoming event and where and when it was going to take place. By inviting people to the official Smirnoff Ice Experience, the organisers signalled that this was more than a party. It was an experience. The clubs were decorated with various promotional effects. There were illuminated billboards outside, logos, separate Smirnoff Ice displays in the bar, free gear and cheap drinks.

The party team was an important part of the event. It consisted of young girls and boys who were there to vouch for the image of the product. Their job was to keep up the party atmosphere. They were young, attractive and carried a bottle of Smirnoff Ice in their hand at all times. The bottle functioned as a sign or a code: They held it all the time while they were talking, dancing and flirting. They were like living advertisements for the product and in particular the slogan "Intelligent Nightlife".

During the tour the organisers referred to a web site. On this site visitors could find out where the parties were going to be, and there were references to music and different clubs. The web site was designed around the slogan "Intelligent Nightlife", and the promotion of the product itself was relatively subtle.

Subtle marketing

Taken as a whole, the campaign relied on subtle cultural codes rather than aggressive promotion. By alluding to lifestyle and image rather than seeking massive exposure of the product they signalled that they take the consumers seriously, and at the same time the violations of Norwegian alcohol advertising laws were less obvious.

Historical decision

So far, the alcohol industry in Norway has escaped close scrutiny. Traditionally, AlkoKutt has been the only body in Norway to actively speak out on issues concerning marketing. However, with the co-operation of the state-owned TV-channel AlkoKutt produced a news segment covering the tour. Thus a lot of people got a glimpse of how this kind of marketing is carried out.

AlkoKutt handed over the documentation to the formal governing body for alcohol marketing issues, the Norwegian Directorate for Health and Social Welfare. Guinness UDV, the importer of Smirnoff Ice, lost their import licence for a period of six months. Never before has the Directorate imposed such a strict sentence. In its ruling, the Directorate says: "Several separate violations have been identified, and in sum they make it a very serious case."

The product sells

Despite the fact that Guinness UDV lost it import licence, Smirnoff Ice is still sold in Norway. Another importer has taken over temporarily, and Smirnoff Ice has been one of the best sellers in the Norwegian market in the last couple of months.

Norwegian authorities have signalled that they will look into the possibility of changing the legislation so that this will not be possible in the future.

Illegal marketing

Norway has a strict prohibition against alcohol advertising. All sorts of mass communication for marketing purposes are prohibited, regardless of how it is carried out. Even advertising that alludes to alcoholic beverages is prohibited.

Despite strict legislation, the Smirnoff Ice-tour is not unique. The industry has shown considerable creativity in promoting its products.

One strategy is to tie brand names to slogans. When the slogan is well established, it can replace the brand name itself for marketing purposes. Many of us know Carlsberg's slogan: "Probably the best beer in the world." In connection with a football match in Norway, Carlsberg bypassed the advertising prohibition by making the players wear team uniforms with the slogan "Probably" instead of the Carlsberg logo. Budweiser is another brand that uses this strategy. On mobile phone covers and other products targeted at young people, they market their products under the slogan "Wassup".

The industry often argues that parties like the Smirnoff Ice Experience are trade events. According to Norwegian alcohol legislation it is legal to organise closed trade events to inform people in the industry about new products. By labelling big, extravagant parties "trade events" and inviting young people outside the industry, they try to bypass existing legislation and promote new products.

Many of them also exploit the opportunity to advertise light-products. It is legal to advertise products of up to 2.5% ABV to establish or market a brand. Some of these products are produced on a limited scale in order to implement marketing strategies where the goal in fact is to promote a product with a higher alcohol content. There have been cases where the light-products advertised were not even available to the consumers.

Social responsibility and self-regulation

The alcohol industry is eager to appear socially responsible, for instance by sponsoring or designing various prevention programmes that encourage young people to drink less alcohol. At the time of the Smirnoff Ice promotional tour, Guinness UDV sponsored a prevention programme for Norway's biggest student organisation. But creating an image of social responsibility is part of the industry's strategy to be able to set its own rules with regard to marketing – so-called self-regulation.

Time and again we have seen that the industry pushes the limits of the advertising prohibition. Strict rules are not enough to stop aggressive marketing that is often targeted at young people. We know that the industry always wants to promote new products, and therefore it is important to use the control instruments that are available.

International marketing

The kind of marketing that we have seen in Norway is part of an international marketing trend. It is therefore important to establish international networks to counter such attempts. AlkoKutt will continue to fight what we regard as illegal marketing of alcoholic beverages to young people.

AlkoKutt is a Norwegian alcohol prevention campaign.