Southern Comfort eyes direct agency

by Claire Billings, Campaign 24-Nov-06

Brown-Forman Corporation, the wine and spirits producer, is seeking a direct agency to reinvigorate Southern Comfort across Europe.

Agencies are being asked to come up with a pan-European below-the-line
strategy that repositions the spirit as a party drink alongside brands
such as Bacardi and Smirnoff.

The company has selected a shortlist of agencies to pitch for the

business, after holding chemistry meetings with a longer list.

The resulting activity is expected to involve experiential, promotional
and online activity to build an online customer acquisition
programme.

In the UK, Southern Comfort uses a range of promotional activity to
promote the drink to young adults.

In September, the experiential agency The Lounge created a campaign
called "The Spirit of New Orleans Project" to raise the brand's profile
in the run-up to Mardi Gras.

The activity involved drinks promotions and tasters, bar staff training
and brand heritage sessions.

In June, Southern Comfort launched a relationship marketing campaign,
offering tickets to The Big Chill music festival as a way of bolstering
its customer database.

The brand has previously run promotional and advertorial campaigns in
FHM.