NEW YORK To give its flat sales a shot, Southern Comfort will kick off its "Suspended Moments" TV campaign next month.
The Brown-Forman-owned brand has promised its heaviest fourth quarter media spend in Southern Comfort's history. A 30-second ad touting "SoCo & Lime" will run across 14 cable networks as well as online.
Southern Comfort's sales have been flat since 2006 at roughly 1.5 million cases, per Impact, New York. Yet, it is still the 25th most-profitable spirits brand.
As the weather turns colder and consumers start looking more to the brown spirits category, Southern Comfort's ads will be hard to miss. The campaign will run everywhere from A&E to VH1 Classic.
The high-energy 30-second spot shows hipsters hitting the bar for some dancing and clowning around. Images are frozen as if someone has snapped photos of the revelers. A voiceover says: "For picture perfect nights, please drink responsibly." Arnold, Boston, crafted the campaign.
"We're showcasing our SoCo & Lime focus by capturing those great moments where friends connect for a legendary night out, something that will resonate with most people," said Campbell Brown, vp, director of Southern Comfort Americas in a statement. The ads are already appearing on NBC Rewind, Heavy.com and other sites.
Offline, SoCo Music Experiences concerts will hit Madison, Wis., and Albany, N.Y., next month. The brand will also sponsor a number of other festivals. Footage of the shows will appear on Pitchfork.tv, Complex.com and a variety of other sites. Print ads also support.
The effort "provides us a wonderful opportunity to create some positive momentum heading into key Halloween and holiday promotional windows," said Brown.
READ ADFREAK'S TAKE ON THE CAMPAIGN.
