A stylish woman sitting at an opulent bar wants—no, demands—“a hot pink cosmopolitan … and some drama,” while in a different glamorous corner of the world, a man in a tuxedo revels in “an after-after party, an espresso martini and a room full of strangers.”
If these scenarios sound like they could be setups for big-screen movies, that’s no accident. Ketel One, a premium Dutch vodka brand, goes cinematic for its new global campaign, hiring well-known commercial director and filmmaker Daniel Wolfe to create “Born to Cocktail.”
Mere mortals may not find themselves in the 30-second ad’s intriguing circumstances—there’s also a James Bond-esque situation involving a bespectacled guy with lightning reflexes and a man golfing from the deck of a yacht who would like “an early-morning tee time and a Bloody Mary.”
Even so, the marketer is encouraging consumers to “elevate their cocktail experience” with special attention to “the setting, the people, the vibe” and of course the booze, according to Olivia Kupfer, director, Ketel One.
A cocktail of creativity and collaboration
“Born to Cocktail” launches this weekend in the U.S., with a rollout planned in the next few months across Canada, Brazil and Western Europe. It comes from creative agency Alto and Wolfe, known for collaborating with ad powerhouses like Droga5, Wieden+Kennedy and BBDO. His CV includes work for brands such as Mini Cooper, Zillow, BMW, AT&T, Honda and Hennessy.
The campaign for Ketel One comes on the heels of its parent company, Diageo, reporting an 11% jump in its global vodka sales for the fiscal year ending in June 2022, according to The Spirits Business, with Smirnoff and Ketel One seeing double-digit gains.
Vodka, including trendy flavored varieties, continues to be the top-selling spirit in the U.S., with North America being its most potent market in the world, per Mordor Intelligence. The segment, dominated by liquor giants like Brown-Forman, Pernod Ricard, Constellation, LVMH and Diageo, is expected to grow nearly 4% annually through 2027, Mordor studies show, driven by the premium cocktail-mixologist movement and the rise of convenient ready-to-drink products.
Meantime, marketers are expecting a wave of collaborations with celebrities and influencers—similar to the activity in the tequila and whisky spaces in recent years—to continue to boost the category.
Ketel One, run for 11 generations by the Nolet family, has previously leaned into its heritage and founders for creative campaigns. The new work is a shift into mini feature film territory, aiming to take viewers on “immersive, entertaining journeys that evoke a time and place that feel both modern and classic,” per the brand.
“Born to Cocktail” will appear on TV and streaming platforms such as ABC, CBS, Paramount+ and Hulu.
