The Verge has an interesting piece written by Kevin Bracken, founder of the startup Speakeasy which is an online marketplace for social venues. Bracken implemented a unique strategy to promote his company, he created a fake vodka brand (Dusty Rabbit Vodka) using generic Russian vodka and bottles from Ikea.
By handing out promotional vodka, he got a whole bunch of event promoters to use the company’s ticketing platform product, which was the end goal. Sure everyone likes free booze and it might be gimmicky, but it worked, and the creativity on display here is impressive.
We highly recommend reading the article, here are some of the highlights.
Dusty Rabbit Vodka is actually a cheap, mass-produced Russian vodka. It is the cheapest vodka you can buy in Brooklyn, sometimes as little as $9 for half a gallon if you shop around. We poured it through funnels into the IKEA bottles and were ready to go.
And
I spent the next 5 days driving all over Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens dropping off cases of Dusty Rabbit and Mercy. People e-mailed us requesting the vodka by saying things like, “Yo, Dusty Rabbit’s my favorite vodka!” Branding is powerful!
Indeed it is.
