Smirnoff offers a whiff of Vodka and TV shows are popular vehicles to promote international tourism

 19th September 2013    Good and Bad PR 

Wake up and smell, the erm, Vodka!

Vodka maker Diageo has come up with a unique experiential marketing method to aid the buying decision for their lime flavoured Smirnoff vodka.

Tasting of liquor is not allowed in India at liquor shops nor is mass advertising, so Smirnoff came up with a tester spray bottle mounted on top of a 180 ml Vodka bottle. Salespersons can then spray a tester card that enables a potential customer to decide whether they want to buy a bottle or not based on the tang of the Lime flavour.

This campaign was carried out in Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Popular TV shows inspire tourism

While international shows like Game of Thrones have inspired tourism to Ireland, Indian soaps with an international connection are also piquing travellers from India and even helping to alter the image of a country.

According to HT City, 25 million viewers in India had tuned in to watch 16 episodes of popular Hindi soap ,’Bade Ache Lagte Hain’ filmed in Sydney, sparking tourist interest.

And then there is Masterchef Australia. Before this show hit Indian TV screens the average Indian view of Australia was negative, due to reported incidents of attacks on Indian students studying there.

But with the popularity of Masterchef Australia, the hosts and judges of the show are treated like rock stars in India, this negative perception of Australia is changing and Tourism Australia is promoting the country strongly as a sponsor. There is also a rise in the number of Indian contestants from Australia in the show. In the current season, being aired in India, there are two contestants’ of Indian origin.

Have you seen any great or even bad PR?

Write to Paarul Chand at paarul@prmoment.in or tweet @PaarulC or @PRmomentIndia throughout the week and we’ll happily credit you for your trouble.