Chivas Regal is stepping into a marketing arena that has proven quite challenging for another alcohol brand, Budweiser.
The Scotch whiskey maker recently launched a branded online channel, This is the Life, hosted by MSN.com. But Chivas is spending only a few million dollars compared to the $30 million lavished on Bud.TV.
The Web presence was inspired by Chivas’ popular annual search to find ambassadors to act as international representatives. This year’s winners, friends Giovanni Martinez and Millie Bonilla of Los Angeles, are traveling the world for one year on salaries of $100,000 each.
“We thought, ‘how can we turn this into branded entertainment,’” says Craig Johnson, brand director for Chivas Regal. “We decided the Internet is a viable way to deliver content.”
The new channel, at thisisthelife.msn.com, is a mix of musical entertainment, ambassador recruitment center, travelogue and tips on how to enjoy life. MSN is the sole promoter for the channel. Banner ads and video will appear throughout its network in areas where consumers match the core Chivas Regal demographic: males ages 25 to 50.
“We looked at MSN as a good partner for us to deliver content, just like a TV channel or a magazine,” Johnson says. “It is our intention to give the Web adventurer tools to seek out and enjoy the moments and experiences that define The Chivas Life.”
Visitors can view the video applications of some of the 600 potential candidates who applied for this year’s job. The winning pair was announced on the channel Aug. 1.
The virtual travel experiences of the ambassadors will be posted on the site showing them in exotic destinations such as Hungary, Croatia, Egypt and Brazil. Once the site is taken down in December, the content will migrate over to the Chivas Web site at www.ChivasCircle.com.
Also available is exclusive content from the Chivas Studio, with performances from bands such as Yerba Buena and Kenna. The studio debuted last fall as part of a mobile experience that toured six cities. In addition to musical concerts, the exhibit offered a place for the brand to promote the ambassador job and take applications, as well as sample Chivas Regal.
Webisodes chronicle the potential candidates through the application process to the selection of the winning pair at an April event in Las Vegas. Paola Turbay, the star of the upcoming CBS drama “Cane,” hosts the Webisodes.
The two will also engage the international and domestic media, host mentoring events and attend exclusive Chivas Life events.
“MSN takes it a step further and also a step kind of backward, where you see the process of how we chose the final candidate,” Johnson says.
Johnson declined to disclose the budget for the channel, but said that, including events, production, filming and media, the costs will run into the multiple millions. Increased investments have been planned for Chivas Regal in media, primarily print, and the Internet. The brand spent $6.9 million in 2006, according to TNS Media.
The Chivas Life marketing campaign began in 2003, and it’s the third year Chivas has held its ambassador search. The creative images and content portray a high-end brand synonymous with luxury, relaxation, happiness and wellbeing: the good life. Winners now get to travel a longer time period, have more interaction with the media and a fatter paycheck.
Another spirits maker, Smirnoff, last month launched a program similar to Chivas’. It is searching for 10 people from across the world to represent its brand and retrace the heritage of the vodka.
The group, dubbed The Smirnoff Ten, will travel together for one year in a journey that each team member will document through short films, blogs, photos and other media at www.Smirnoff.com and other Web sites, including YouTube, which will house a Smirnoff-branded channel featuring the group and its travels. The journey begins at the Smirnoff Experience Moscow event in Russia on Sept. 29. Stops include Moscow, Shanghai, Paris and New York — the four cities related to the brand’s history.
As for Budweiser, it has been struggling with its online channel, Bud.TV, since its February debut amid much fanfare. The project, which features lots of original programming, has not drawn the volume of visitors that Budweiser had hoped. The site had fewer than 100,000 hits in May, according to ComScore Media Metrix.
Bud.TV’s “Swear Jar,” a TV spot created for the Super Bowl but never ran, made its way to YouTube, and helped boost interest in the site.
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