CD cover

To keep our design consistent we kept the black and white theme for the CD cover as well. 

We put our blog URL on the back.

Creative report

Below are the print screens showing our design for our report format. We wanted it to represent Smirnoff as a brand, with elements of the app features.

Cocktail booklet

Below is a selection of images, of a cocktail leaflet which was attached to litre bottles of Smirnoff, at the moment. From seeing these recipe books we feel that our app/viral would be an overall success, since Smirnoff, the brand themselves  have looked into the cocktail idea at this time.

The Report ... Summary

To summarise the report, both the app and the viral video will be launched on the 1^st September, for the main target market, as this is when the app would be most beneficial, and would reach its highest download peak. Everything which is included in the video, highlights the best aspects of one of the three core functions of the app, making the app most appealing to customers. 

The viral made is a simple, yet fun and effective means of showing the app’s features of the ‘Recipe Finder’ section, clearly showing how easy and fun it is to create the cocktails at home, keeping costs down for students, and fun for those who like to stay in and wow their friends. 

Overall, the idea of the Smirnoff app/viral video is a good idea, and should be successful, as the launch date fits in which the overall target market. Each aspect with the app fits in well with each other, linking it all together and making it consistent. Emphasis has been put on all three core functions as they are all as successful as one another.

The Report .. Schedule/launch date & Sources

The release of the app would be set to be launched on the 1st of September, coinciding with university fresher’s, as these are the main target customer. To promote the app further Smirnoff would set up stalls at various university fresher’s fairs in the main cities in the UK, e.g. London, Manchester, Liverpool and Belfast. The stall be playing the viral video throughout the event, with Smirnoff staff handing out leaflets with QR codes, and plastic shot glasses which then entitle the customer’s to get a free shot once they are at one of the sponsored bars. They can find the sponsored bars by downloading the app, and following the ‘Around Me’ section. In the sponsored clubs there will be posters, and beer mats advertising the app, with QR codes, which then leads people to the app store where they can download the app for free.

The Smirnoff viral video would be shown on youtube, Facebook and the Smirnoff website. Universities that are having Smirnoff at their fresher’s fair, would have the video on their student union website. The websites chosen are most popular with the target market and would be most beneficial to making the video a viral success.

The Report .. Rationale behind the video

The viral video was created to promote, and show one of the three core functions of the app. The part which was focused on was the ‘Recipe Finder’. The aim of the viral is to get the target customer interested in the new Smirnoff app, by showcasing the features in a fun and interactive way. The inspiration for the viral video came from a variety of past adverts, including the Lurpack Lightest spreadable advert (Lurpack advert, youtube.com, January 2012) and the Comet blender advert (Comet Blender, youtube.com, October 2010). 

The main objective of the viral video, was to show the process of creating cocktails, from fruit to blender – proving that it can be done at home. If the viral was filmed professionally it would show other varieties of cocktails, with the inclusion of cocktail aids e.g. grenadine. The video would also use more blenders mixing in sync, to create a good effect.

The viral begins with an opening shot of a bottle of Smirnoff vodka, highlighting what the video is about. To keep in with legal restrictions the drinkaware.co.uk logo will be visible to the audience at this opening shot. It then cuts to short, sharp shots of fruit being chopped, which have been sped up to create a more dramatic effect. The viral video needed to be fun and catchy, so the addition of the quick editing would be appealing to its younger audience. The next scene shows the fruit being added to the blender, in a jolty and distorted manner. The introduction of the Smirnoff to the blender has been slowed right down, to highlight Smirnoff as the key ingredient to the cocktail. This then leads onto the mixture being blended, to create the finished cocktail recipe. During this part of the video, sound effects have been left in, to emphasise the actions which are happening. To present the cocktails in an impressive manner, the video then cuts to a shot of two glasses, which are then subsequently filled with ice, the cocktails, straws and cocktail umbrellas, to show how easy it is to create the cocktails at home. Next, shows the app itself, being used in an environment to show its features. The finishing shots include the Smirnoff logo, and the strapline ‘make every night a Smirnoff night’. The strapline is applicable for all features of the app, and will be used across the viral’s for the other features of the app.

The ideas behind the ‘Around Me’ video, if created, would include a scenario set up, with two groups of people, one with, and one without the app. The story behind the viral would be without the app, the customer wouldn’t have a good night, as they wouldn’t know where to go, and would spend more money on drinks, but the group who had the app knows where is good in the city, and would have a good night thanks to Smirnoff.

For the ‘Create a new flavour’ section of the app the video would be similar to the ‘Recipe Finder’ video, with a group of people all drinking Smirnoff Vodka, and adding different ingredients, to test out whether they would work as a new Smirnoff flavour. At the end it would explain about the Facebook competition, and how to enter.

The Report ... Core Functions of the app

As previously stated, there are 3 core functions of the app, which include the ‘Around Me’, ‘Create a new flavour’ and ‘Recipe Finder’ sections.

The ‘Around Me’ section of the app, focuses on the customer’s current location, and gives them examples of venues and places to go, which are sponsored by Smirnoff, and sell Smirnoff products. Reviews, and ratings are shown, to give customers an idea of the type of venue, and what’s appealing to them. Another feature allows customers to get a 10% discount at the bar of one of the chosen featured venues, this will be viewed as an incentive to download the app.

‘Create a new flavour’ is another section of the Smirnoff app which enables customers to interact with social networking sites, and other Smirnoff customers. This section allows customers to release their creative side, and design a new flavour for the Smirnoff Brand. Once the new flavour has been created, it can be shared on Facebook, which enters it straight into the competition, with the winning flavour being put into production.

The final section of the app is the ‘Recipe Finder’, which encourages customers, to once again bring out their creative side and make new cocktails using Smirnoff vodka and other varieties of the Smirnoff brand. Customers can chose the sort of ingredients they want/have for their cocktail, which will then take them to the recipe of a suggested cocktail, laid out in an easy step-by-step guide.

The Report .. The introduction

This report is going to outline the core functions of the new Smirnoff app, and viral video which have been created to enhance Smirnoff’s target customer and increase brand awareness. The original Smirnoff app was released on the 21^st October 2011, and automatically came under criticism for not working (Smirnoff App, itunes.com, 2011)

The app viral video will consist of three outcomes, with the ‘Recipe Finder’ being the focus for this report.

The target customer for these new Smirnoff ventures are mainly ‘freshers’ aged between 18 and 25, as this is the standard age to begin University life. The customers would have interest in, socialising with friends, nightlife, going to gigs and meeting new people. They also enjoy drinking Smirnoff vodka and other products which are endorsed by the brand. Like all students money is a big issue, so the idea of saving money with the 10% off Smirnoff vodka will be a bonus. Although focus has been primarily on ‘fresher’s’, this doesn’t mean that they will be the main downloaders of the app, as the inclusion of cocktails recipe’s and different Smirnoff flavours would open it up to a larger target audience, and wouldn’t make it as niche, because Smirnoff is enjoyed by a variety of ages.

SMART objectives are an important aspect when analysing a new idea, here follows the SMART objective’s for the Smirnoff app viral video.

Specific - To promote the use of Smirnoff when creating cocktails.

Measurable - Measured by the amount of times the app is downloaded, as well as the

Increase in Smirnoff sales from in store.

Achievable - They already have an app as well as several promotions, so it shows that they have the resources.

Realistic - They are a large company and so they have the funds and the people to carry

out the service.

Time Specific - App will be released at the beginning of September alongside the release of the viral video, before university fresher’s starts.

Final Video ...

This is the edited version of our Smirnoff Viral Video.

We are really pleased with the way the video has turned out, but we want to edit the final shot as we don't think it looks quite right. Through research we have seen that the app store logo is a lot smaller, but we can't figure out how to change it. As we still have over a week until the hand in, with a tutorial, the problem will get solved before the deadline.

Chosen Track

We started looking back at older song's through our various itunes, to see if there was something more appropriate. We started looking at the Daft Punk greatest hits album, as their music is upbeat but their tempo isn't as quick as dance music nowadays, which fits in better with our video.
The song that we liked the most is:

This first video is the original song for Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - but after listening to the song and playing it alongside our video, we thought it might be better if it was more upbeat and remixed. 


We went back on youtube and looked at what remixes were available. The new song which we decided on is shown below as a video.

Possible Music

Our initial thoughts for music was to keep it quite dance-y, as Smirnoff is associated with going out and bars and clubs. We looked at the top dance songs which are out at the moment. e.g. Avicci levels, Nicci Minaj Turn me on and David Guetta Titanium.
We realised that these songs would not fit as they were too quick to match our video, so we carried on looking for an appropriate song.

Shots ..

This video shows the Smirnoff bottle being opened. It is there to reiterate the brand being the key ingredient in the cocktails.

This shot of the Smirnoff being poured into the blender, we thought could be slowed down, just to emphasise the point above.

Unedited videos

The video above shows one of the unedited video's of the chopping of the fruit. We did a few test runs to see which ones turned out the best. We felt that this one didn't really show the strawberry to its full advantage.

 

This video also shows the cutting of some fruit. We thought that this clip worked well as it was effective, following the style which we wanted to use. We knew from filming our video, that we wanted to speed up the editing.

The clip above shows the chopped fruit being added to the blender, as we liked the idea of being able to see through the blender to what was inside, rather than looking at it from the top.

The final unedited video shows the ice being added to the glasses. We like every aspect to this clip, from the way it looked, to the way the ice sounded when it landed in the glass. This shot was taken with just one take so we were very happy with the result of it.

Please remember these are unedited videos!

Behind the scenes

These are a few images from the video shoot, including our final product.

Props

Above shows the items we bought for the video. We bought two A2 sheets of black card to keep the background neutral and to have the blender as the focus.

Preparing our video

Now that we have decided to carry out the 'recipe finder' video, we made a list of the various things we needed, including:

• A blender
• Various fruits
• Chopping board
• Sharp Knife
• Smirnoff
• Ice Cubes
• Glasses
• Straws
• Cocktail Umbrellas
• A neutral background
• Camera
• Tripod
• iphone

We were successful in getting these items, including the Camera and Tripod, which we borrowed from the university.

The next task was to think where we were going to film the video, as we needed it to be in a kitchen setting, with plenty of room.

We decided to film in one of our kitchens at our house, as this was the easiest option and made most sense.

Final Decision

From looking back over our storyboards and research we think it would be most appropriate to carry out the video for the 'recipe finder' section to the app. We think it would be the most effective and successful, and the easiest to create in the time that we have.

Storyboard for 'Recipe Finder'

This is the storyboard created for the 'recipe finder' video. It highlights all the aspects we want to include in the video. We like its simplicity and think it will be effective and would appeal to the target audience, especially if it was produced professionally, like the Lurpack Lightest advert.

Inspiration for 'Recipe Finder'

The video which we used as inspiration for our Recipe Finder video was the Lurpack Lightest advert. We liked the style of editing as well as its comedy value. It's a video which you want to watch over again, and it's catchy so it gets stuck in your head. This is the kind of video which we want to be able to produce in relation to the recipe finder section of the app.

Idea for 'Create a new Flavour'

If we were to create a viral video for the 'create a new flavour' section of the app, we thought it would include a trial and error video, with people drinking Smirnoff Vodka, whilst adding various ingredients into it to see what it tasted like, some good and some bad.
Basically just a group of friends having fun, whilst pre-drinking before a night out. The reason why this would work would be because it would fit in with our target audience. At the end of the video we will explain about the competition which is linked to Facebook.

Video's

Looking at various nightlife apps, we came across this video, and have decided that we don't want our video to look like this. It is supposed to be showcasing the app to the best of its abilities, and to lure in the customer to continue watching, but however we felt that the video was too boring and it no longer made us want to continue watching. When creating our video we want to entice the audience and make it interesting and fun to watch.

Inspirational videos

This is an advert for West Coast Cooler, which we thought would be appropriate for the 'around me' section of our app, if we were to create the video for it. We liked how it shows a good night out with the drink, making people think that if you have drink, then you will have a good time. This is something we want to reciprocate with our video.

Story board idea 1.

This is the storyboard for our 

first idea for our viral video. The storyboard is showing what the video would look like for the 'around me' section of the app. Our idea was to have 2 scenarios, one with the app, one without. This storyboard shows the story of without the app ... which clearly highlights a bad night out.

This is the storyboard for the second scenario of the video. It clearly shows people who have downloaded the app, and are having a good night out, as they know exactly where to go, thanks to Smirnoff.

Strap line..

We tried to think of strap lines that would fit all aspects of the app so if the viral and app were actually made they could use the same strap line for all the different virals showing all parts of the app.


For the 'Recipe Finder' section we had originally thought of the strap line:


'Bring the bar home'


We thought that it would of worked well for that section but not for the rest. Then we came up with the strap line:


'Make every night a Smirnoff night'


This can be related to all parts of the app and it fits in well with the brand since their recent promotion Smirnoff Nights.

The Current Smirnoff App

As done in the first part of the research the current Smirnoff app doesn't work right. We looked back at the design of the app just for inspiration into how the start of the video will look. The strap like 'Start Pure, Then Mix' links in quite well with the idea we want to conduct although we want to think of something original and suited for both the cocktail aspect of the app and the viral.

Drink Responsibly ...

On the Smirnoff website there is a seperate area which is full of information on drinking responsibly, to make sure that people are sensible when consuming alcohol. Because we are creating a video for an app which is involved in alcohol and nightlife then we need to make sure that all the correct information is provided. On the settings area to the app , there will be a link which will take customers to the information below, outlining the safety features of consuming alcohol, there will also be a screen at the end of the video which will promote drinking responsibly.

DRINK RESPONSIBLY To the nights you'll always remember, with the friends you'll never forget. Please Drink Responsibly. Smirnoff is committed to making nights out, nights in, or any time spent with alcohol, a Socially Responsible experience. We believe that responsible drinking is a valued and enjoyable part of celebrations in everyday life for most people who choose to drink. We take great care to only market our product responsibly to adults. We support programmes, practices and policies that create a more positive role for alcohol in society and address issues related to the misuse of alcohol. We encourage our consumers to make responsible decisions about drinking - or not drinking It is our goal to provide you with everything you need in order to enjoy our product responsibly. Here are a few resources to help you make responsible choices: Effects of Alcohol Alcohol affects different people in different ways. Two people can drink the same amount of alcohol and react differently because of their gender, weight, ability to process and breakdown alcohol or their tolerance to alcohol. Even the same person can drink the same amount of alcohol on different occasions and be affected differently on each occasion. Visit www.DRINKiQ.com .

Tips for Drinking Responsibly Keep track of how much you drink. Pace yourself, alternate drinks with water to stay refreshed and have a bite to eat before or while you drink. These and many more helpful hints and tips will help you make it a night to remember, not to forget.

Getting home safely Key to a successful night is having a safe way to get home. Think about how you're going to get home before you leave home - grab a cab or designate a driver. Treat your Designated Driver to one of these delicious drinks that don't feature alcohol.

Want to know the facts about alcohol?

You can also check out www.DRINKiiQ.com and www.icap.org for more information that will help you to make responsible choices.

The Target Market ...

• The main target market is university freshers aged 18-25 (although the app will also appeal to people who enjoy going out and nightlife)
• The target market would enjoy the brand Smirnoff, and would enjoy drinking it with various mixers.
• They like to try new and interesting venues when on a night out, and wouldn't want to waist their time going to bad places.
• They are keen to save money and are interested in discounts, as the app allows 10% off all Smirnoff in the sponsored clubs.
• They will have a keen interest in music and will enjoy meeting new people and socialising with friends.

This is a poster created by Vodka Nationwide, to highlight the night. We thought the clubs which were promoted in the around me section would have similar posters in the club to advertise the app and to encourage the target market to download the app. 
This promotion could be done in the form of posters and beer mats around the club.


Since we are launching our app for the start of University freshers, we thought it would be a good idea to advertise the app at the university freshers fair. The way it would work and advertise the app is that there would be a stall with leaflets with QR codes and the viral video playing in the background. Freshers will have the opportunity to get involved in the app, by being handed a leaflet and a plastic Smirnoff shot glass which they then take to the sponsored clubs and will receive a free shot of Smirnoff in their glass.

This is the Facebook page for Vodka Nationwide, which is a company that sponsored nightlife in Preston and Leeds. We thought it would be a good idea to look at this company as they are similar to that of what we want to do for Smirnoff. The have sponsored club nights which advertise vodka as the main drink.
On the Facebook page they have a info section which describes all about the brand and what they do.


Calling all STUDENTS OF UCLAN Vodka Nationwide is pushing THURSDAY Night Clubbing to the limits and we are taking all of you with us! Accept no cheap imitations, we are the original VODKA event and this academic year we are going to throw parties like you have never seen before...we cannot wait!!!

This is guaranteed to be a party like no other! Expect the BIGGEST and most outrageous student show ever experienced in Preston. Having destroyed every major student city in the UK and left each and every single student gagging for more, the ‘Worlds Wildest Club Night’ comes to PRESTON promising Thursdays to never be the same again!

Contacts ...

This is one of the emails which we have sent out to clubs in Preston. We decided that we wanted to film in clubs as this would make our video more realistic and would fit in with the brand. One of the clubs which we decided to film in was Lava, which is one of the busiest clubs in preston and would work well for our video.

The manager of Lava, Dave Beveridge replied and said that we were able to film in lava, with their permission, as long as we made disclaimer posters.

Decisions...

From the research we have conducted so far, we have decided to focus on two of the video's, which we will then decide which one we want to use depending on how well the video turns out. The two videos that we have decided to carry out is the 'recipe finder' and the 'around me' section of the app.

Another idea..

Recipe Finder..

Another idea for the recipe finder section is to find a bar tender who can perform like this. Would make the video interesting and would really show off the bartenders skill. Also what the app does but in an over the top way. 

Comet Advert

We thought this was a good video for inspiration for the 'blender' idea. The multiple blenders and the use of colour has a nice effect. Obviously we would try to duplicate the blenders through editing as we wont have that many. 

Ideas ...

Although we like the idea of creating a video for the around me section of the app, we also thought of other video ideas for the other aspects of the app.
Idea 1:
Create a new flavour was another aspect of our original app. We thought of the idea to create a video which would be fun and comical, and an interactive way to create a new flavour for Smirnoff. We thought we could have a blender which would be 'wirring' and would have different foods thrown in, similar to that of the gordon's gin advert we looked at previously. We could duplicate the blenders to look like there's more.
Idea 2:
Recipe finder was another aspect of our app which we could make a video for. We thought we would make it comical and would involve people creating cocktails via trial and error, and by accident they end up creating some nice and new cocktails.
Idea 3:
The idea for the around me part of the app would involve 2 scenarious - highlighting the effect the app has on people. One scenario would be that they hadn't downloaded the app, and it ended up being a bad night because they didn't know where to go. The other scenario would be that they had the app and they had a great night, with smirnoff. The video would show the 2 scenarios to emphasise how good the app is.

The image above shows a mind map we have created for the possible scenarios for our Smirnoff videos. We thought it was best to complete a mind map as this would help us to gather our ideas, and it would lay them out in an easy way for us to be able to refer back to easily. As you can see we have thought of videos for the different areas of the app which was created in the first part of the project. After our first look at our mind map, our current favourite video for us to create is the 2 scenario film for the around me part of the app. As the app which we created for the first part of the project is completely focused around the around me section, in terms of design then it would make the most sense to follow that on with the video which we are going to make.

Grey Goose ad

STILL IMAGES

I included this advert as its a good example of how we don't have to use an actual video but just images and different effects. I like how the effects used are liquid effects, mimicking the idea of vodka. To make this more successful though I think they should of mixed this idea with some video shots and had a good background song.

Grey Goose

Thought it would be good to look at other vodka advertisements, the grey goose ad looks to be aimed at an older target customer than what we are aiming at. Especially since the app is to be released for freshers.


This advertisement is a good example of a voice over video, if we were going to do this in our video we need to think about what accent to use, needs to fit the brand and a voice that people would like to listen to and understand. Also need to consider if the person will be speaking over music?

Gordon's Gin

Celebratory Endorsement

For large brands like Smirnoff and Gordon's, the budget for advertisements would be quite high. This ad for Gordon's Gin included TV chef Gordon Ramsey, a play on his name. The idea behind the advertisement is very simple, the ingredients to make a 'perfect G&T' are poured over Gordon Ramsey in order to make one and then it ends with the tag line 'The G in G&T'. Since he is included in it it makes the viewer interested and therefore making this advertisement a success. Obviously we don't have the budget to include a celebratory but the concept behind this ad is good.

Fosters

FOSTERS ADVERTS

Fosters advertisements catches the viewers attention with humour. Theyre advertisements all follow the same concept with an Australian hotline aspect. Could we think of a scenario that could be used for all three parts of the app?

Competitors

Now that we have looked at what Smirnoff already we we want to see other possibilities to try and make our video for our app successful. 


To try and create a new original idea we looked at what other alcohol companies are doing in terms of promotion to get some inspiration. 

Similar idea

This video has the same concept as the previous post, we could do a video with a lot of different angle shots, even a play on the 'transparency' idea with the app been seen through the bottle?

Simple yet effective

Since the Smirnoff app has a variety of different features we thought about just focusing on one of them for our viral and say they are part of a series, including the other aspects in different virals sent out throughout the year. 

This Smirnoff advertisement could be easily done in the time frame we have, we would just need to focus more on the editing to make it look crisp.

A video like this could be used to highlight the create a cocktail or new flavor section of the app.

Purified..

Smirnoff Purified..

This video was clearly done on a big budget with the effects used and would be quite difficult to do for our viral. I like the idea used behind it to highlight how 'purified' Smirnoff is,it has a somewhat shock factor in place that makes viewers keep watching to see what the overall video is about. The story behind it is simple yet it clearly shows what it is trying to get across. I think for our viral we need to think of a simple concept but done in a fun way to keep viewers interested yet clearly showing the app and its features.