Smirnoff - BE THERE

I wrote recently about the Smirnoff Masquerade Ball, which was the first Dublin event in Smirnoff's 'BE THERE' calender. 'BE THERE' is Smirnoff's mission to inspire, facilitate and enable people to create more one-of-a-kind experiences. To create those experiences that you just have to be there.

To kickstart the whole initiative, the Smirnoff have launched two really cool ways for you to become part of Smirnoff 'BE THERE'; the new Smirnoff Creative Grants Initiative and the Smirnoff Consumer Competition. Both these activities are looking to engage the public, find out what we want and, ultimately, to ask for our advice on what Smirnoff should be doing next.

The Smirnoff Creative Grants Initiative enables creatives and promoters to make there vision and idea of an original, one-of-a-kind experience become reality. Smirnoff will be awarding a grant of €10,000 to one lucky person for the most unique proposal for a one-of-a-kind experience/event. The grant is open to applications from Ireland, USA, Canada and Brazil, and is as simple as pie. Just submit a 100-word proposal to the Smirnoff Facebook page. The winner will be handpicked by the Smirnoff global panel of experts, also including Brazil’s Bonde do Rolê, Canada’s Ryan Kruger (DAMN! Management, founder Cutting Edge Music Festival), USA’s Damon DeGraff (dGi Management).

Don't sit around just thinking about it though - the closing date for entries is 18th December. Winners will then be announced on 20th January, with the event taking taking place in March.

This is a seriously cool promotion and definitely worth entering if you are in any way creative. Just think of an event. It's that easy.


The second 'BE THERE' activity that has launched, the Smirnoff Consumer Competition, is equally as cool. Essentially, Smirnoff is challenging people across the world to get creative and answer the question “How would you create a New Year’s Eve revolution?” This is the first in a series of monthly competitions that will be run through the Smirnoff Brand Site and their Facebook Page. All you need to do is give a tweet-sized 140 characters describing how you would overturn New Year’s Eve convention to create a revolutionary end-of-the-year event. Smirnoff will be giving one lucky person US$1,000 and a Flip Mino HD video camcorder.

Again this is going to require some quick moving, but again it's well worth it. The closing date for the first competition is next Thursday 17th December, and it is open to Ireland, Australia, Brazil, Canada, US and Venezuela. The top five entries for a one-of-a-kind, New Year’s Eve experience will be selected by Smirnoff's esteemed global panel of entertainment industry experts, including Ireland’s very own Declan Forde (Pod Entertainment and The Electric Picnic) and Australia’s Brett Robinson (Future Promotions, Summadayze).

The best thing here is that even if you're not lucky enough to win the top prize, no one goes away empty handed. For everyone who enters there is a free download of the Simian Mobile Disco track “Turn up the Dial” featuring Young Fathers (Stankonia Mix). So remember to enter before the 17th December and then get yourself over to the Smirnoff Facebook Page between the 23rd and 29th December to vote on which of the top five entries should win.


About the Smirnoff BE THERE campaign
Most of us have been a part of experiences that are truly unforgettable and extraordinary. We talk about these experiences for years to come and revel in the fact that ‘we were there’. The word ‘there’ is often used to talk about amazing events or happenings. How many times have you heard someone say: I was there!? / Were you there? / I can’t believe you weren’t there! / Are you going there? / You’ve got to be there?!

Smirnoff’s global campaign is all about inspiring and enabling consumers to seek and create these unforgettable and extraordinary experiences – to BE THERE.