Want the Absolut experience? Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. For a film called I’m Here, directed by indie auteur Spike Jonze (Where the Wild Things Are, Adaptation), Absolut tried to give its audience a theatre-like feel with a free online movie you can enjoy in the company of friends (although you do have to provide the popcorn). The idea was to enhance the (typically) static web video and leave viewers with a better taste in their mouths. And the audience, naturally, drank it up.
Screenings were limited to every two hours (it started as four-hour intervals, but ramped up due to demand), with only a fixed number of “seats” available each day. Incredibly, excess visitors started lining up eagerly for the next show. As Adverblog reported, 230,000 views were logged during the short’s premiere weekend. And like that, craving is born.

Through Facebook Connect (billed as the “full experience”), viewers watch the 30-minute flick in groups. Once engaged, things get personal: profile photos breathe life into the intro sequence, allowing Absolut to alter the viewing environment, tailor the storytelling, and transport each member of the audience.

More importantly, Absolut gave viewers a sense of what the brand represents without thrusting its messaging rudely in their faces—not a single bottle makes a cameo. A modest reminder establishes the context: “I’m Here—A Love Story in an Absolut World.”

A great experience can honestly move people; brands like Absolut have capitalized on that, expanding their role from product pushers to publishers and curators. And the content they manage is engaging, of high quality, and on-brand. Immersion over interruption.

With I’m Here, Absolut showed restraint and respect for the consumer in its marketing approach. Who won’t drink to that?