Audacity pays for vodka visionaries

Geoff Ross

Few companies court negative publicity but the strategy is a success for Auckland-based liquor-maker 42 Below.

Its audacious public relations style is so effective that the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand's annual conference last month hosted Geoff Ross, 42 Below chief executive - or the chief vodka bloke, as the company's press statements dub him.

The company's advertising antics are well-known: a viral ad pulled after actor Russell Crowe complained about being included, the New York street posters that prompted complaints from the Colombian Embassy.

The strategy is risky, say public relations experts, but as 42 Below launches several more products in addition to its core range of vodkas it has no plans to let up.

"A little bit of controversy is often our friend," says Ross, who worked as an advertising account manager for more than 10 years but admits to "creative" yearnings.

Complaints can be an opportunity to "lob a grenade back" in good humour and get more coverage.

Ross says 42 Below's annual marketing spend is just over $1 million but its public relations strategy produces coverage worth much more.

Its Cocktail World Cup, held annually in Queenstown, was on the news on 80 TV stations around the world, together with press stories - coverage Ross "conservatively" estimates as worth $10 million.

But he says it's about more than just being controversial, it's about being cool, winning credibility with a traditionally hard to reach consumer and "influencing the influencers".

The company is mindful of taste and decency: "We wouldn't take the mickey out of anyone in a way that we wouldn't take the mickey out of ourselves."

AUT communications and public relations programme leader Joseph Peart says 42 Below is positioned as a leading-edge and risk-taking organisation, which gives it a "right" to be a bit more left-field in its approach.

"Some of your friends are cheeky and can say things that, coming from someone else, might be offensive," says Peart.

"That's how they've positioned themselves and they can, quite legitimately, get away with it. If anything, it sharpens their brand identity."

He says the company's reputation management means it is regarded "with greater tolerance".

He points to the controversy this month over the SPCA's advertising campaign - which painted non-neutered animals as "sex offenders" - as an example of the impact of companies' corporate images.

"A vodka brand with the positioning that [42 Below] has can get away with things that an animal charity can't. Because they are working in a different demographic, they have a totally different corporate image."

Deborah Pead, of Pead PR, says 42 Below is an energetic and audacious client.

"One of the great challenges for us is to find that fine line where it doesn't offend, where it actually fits in with its audacious, humorous tone - where we know most people will have a smile, rather than be offended."

She says the company's new brands, like South Gin, have more fashionable and flirtatious characteristics and the PR strategy reflects that.

Darryl Parsons, of advertising agency Consortium, designs 42 Below's advertisements to be deliberately controversial.

"We'll do advertising that creates controversy, then the PR spin that comes off that becomes the vehicle for getting the messages out there."

It's rare to have a client willing to adopt the technique, says Parsons, who worked at DDB with Ross.

"If there's a story in the press about them that's put in a negative way - [most clients] don't want to go there. We kind of encourage that anything being talked about you is actually good," he says.

"One of the reasons 42 Below does so well is because no one really takes it that seriously - sure they take it financially seriously - but the actual brand, it's quite nice for people to say 'it's okay to have a laugh'."