Finlandia Goes to the Well for Fresh Approach

Advertiser: Brown-Forman North America

Agency: Martin Agency, Richmond, Va.

The Challenge: Enhance Finlandia’s image as a premium vodka while distinguishing it from its larger competitors.

The Ads: Print ads in a new campaign for the vodka play on the concept of “past lives” to make the point that Finlandia started out as water. Each ad shows a sequence of four photos, ending with a Finlandia bottle and an explanation that it “was pure, glacial spring water.” One ad shows a photograph of a frog above the caption, “Once I was a court jester. I hated that hat.” Another photo in the same ad shows a woman swimming in a lily pond. The caption: “In a past life, I was a mermaid who fell in love with an ancient mariner. I pulled him into the sea to be my husband. I didn’t know he couldn’t breathe underwater.”

Comment: Martin Agency President and Chief Creative Officer Mike Hughes said the trick was to strike a balance between thoughtfulness and fun. Convention dictates a light tone--serious themes are reserved for brown spirits. While competing brands, such as Absolut and Stolichnaya, focus on splashy images of vodka bottles, Finlandia sets itself apart by taking a more cerebral approach--for spirits ads, that is. $$$$

*

Ads are rated from $ to $$$$, based on tastefulness and probable effectiveness, with $$$$ being best.