Smirnoff: When more flavour isn’t the answer
The Challenge
Smirnoff’s raspberry vodka was losing relevance in the fast-moving flavoured vodka category.
The range was underperforming, at risk of delisting, and stuck in lower-value, high-tempo occasions: while competitors raced ahead with more expressive, more desirable offers.
The easy answer would have been to just launch another flavour & risk more of the same. Instead, we redefined Smirnoff’s role to unlock growth.
Team
Karen Poole
Claire McCormack
Jeremy Taylor
The Strategy
Through a sensational lens, we reframed flavoured vodka beyond taste - seeing it instead as a social unlock: a way to access fun, expression, and connection without effort.
This revealed a missed opportunity: the category had split between accessible but basic and stylish but excluding. We defined a new positioning for Smirnoff Raspberry Crush: Cheeky Glamour, centred around balancing accessibility with style. We translated it into a clear creative direction for Diageo’s partners that could live consistently across liquid, pack, range name, and experience.
Expertise
Rich consumer worlds
Co-creation
Positioning
Creative brief
The Sensational Advantage
By understanding how flavoured vodka feels in the moment (not just how it tastes) Smirnoff turned sensation into a new kind of commercial advantage: effortless style that more people could participate in.
More than a successful launch, Smirnoff Raspberry Crush redefined how the brand shows up – proving that when you design for sensation, you create growth within an entire category.
The repositioning transformed performance:
£5m NSV in first 10 weeks
£23m NSV in year 1
Primary driver of category growth
Restored Smirnoff equity vs Absolut