I don’t believe they teach media planning at Haverford College, but
Lena DerOhannessian, Southern Comfort’s U.S. marketing director, learned it somewhere (and learned it well).
According to Ad Age, Brown-Forman’s Southern Comfort brand — weary of jostling for notice with other spirits brands during the narrow nightly window when they are permitted to advertise on cable — is taking its entire media buy online, allowing it access to programs online it couldn’t touch on TV.
Shows like My Damn Channel’s “Grace Crashers,” an original series starring Grace Helbig of The Daily Grace as the ultimate party crasher.
SoCo is also working with Pitchfork and Fader, a natural given the brand’s ties to rock and roll, but still good to see.
Ms. DerOhannessian said savings from the switch to a 100% digital media buy will allow the brand to bolster its presence in bars and at retail, as well as through events. It will also give it a significant footprint online, where a $10 million budget stretches far.