Toronto agency Lowe Roche‘s new creative heads may have to tap into their spiritual side to work on Crystal Head Vodka, an otherworldly alcoholic creation of Canadian actor Dan Aykroyd.
The agency announced last week a new creative leadeship team of Steph Mackie and Mark Biernacki. Joining from TBWAToronto, the duo have been hired to fill the vice-presidency and creative directorship left vacant in January by Christina Yu, who joined Omnicom’s Red Urban Toronto.
Crystal Head Vodka is distributed by Aykroyd’s company Globefill. It comes in a clear, skull-shaped bottle made of crystal. Aykroyd is a longtime believer of paranormal phenomenon, developed the product based on the legend of the 13 crystal skulls that are said to have mystical powers.
“Even if you believe in this stuff or not, when you start in the beverage industry, you’ve got to have a story,” Akroyd told Newfoundland daily The Telegram last year. “You can’t just walk in with a nice package and the fluid in it. You’ve got to have a story behind it because bartenders like to tell stories. The mixologist is kind of a new psychologist of the age.”
Aykroyd himself was featured in the marketing materials at the brand’s launch in 2009, starring in a series of videos explaining the brand’s paranormal background at CrystalHeadVodka.com.
Lowe Roche won the account in early May after a review, receiving a number of Crystal Head bottles as congratulations.
The shop will soon make its first ideas presentation and should have its first materials in market by fall, said Lowe Roche president Stephanie Nerlich.
“The brand is positioned right now under two things: the bottle, and the spiritual essence and belief that [Aykroyd] himself brings to the project. Now its about taking it outside those walls and growing its scope in a much wider way.”
The assignment is for North America, and will include cross-platform positioning to play across web, point-of-purchase and on-premise venues. Lowe Roche will also redesign the website.
As for replacing Yu, Nerlich called it a “very thoughtful process.”
“We really thought about where we wanted to go and how this individual would fit in our organization today,” she said.
Mackie and Biernacki, partners for 10 years, were responsible for Pedigree‘s popular “Catch” video, a two-million-plus viewed YouTube hit that showed dogs playing in high definition slow motion. They also oversaw work for Visa and Unilever.
Lowe Roche founder Geoffrey Roche had been steering the agency’s creative output on his own and will stay involved with Mackie and Biernacki.
However, Nerlich said the hirings mean Roche now has time to “take on a greater chairman role.”
