Creative Corner: Tito's Vodka and Equinox gyms tackle January head-on

Creative Corner: Tito's Vodka and Equinox gyms tackle January head-on

Welcome to 2023, you creative mothers!

It’s my pleasure to kick off the first Creative Corner of the new year and if you thought this first week back to reality was going to be a slow one you were dead…right. 

Whatever hopes I had that the first week of Jan might hit with a bang this year we’re totally misplaced. I guess that’s what happens when the media’s also completely distracted with the release of a certain explosive Royal memoir…

F**k Dry January

To paraphrase a lazy vegan joke, how do you know if someone’s doing Dry January? They’ll tell you.

Well, cookery and lifestyle legend Martha Stewart won’t be joining them this year, but for those who are, she’s extolling the many uses* of Tito’s Vodka.

The US brand has made an hilarious ad, featuring Martha using her Tito’s Vodka to tenderise meat, deodorise boots, clean surfaces, and even water flowers. The sign off line, which I won’t spoil for you here (it’s a short video, watch it!) is perfection and I love how Martha Stewart is embracing this side of herself more and more over the years.

A really shrewd move from Tito’s, and a great creative way for a drinks brand to be talked about during Dry January other than another ‘mocktail menu’ story.

*Definitely not actual uses, in fact the ASA probably wouldn’t let this advert air for a UK brand!

You Can’t Gym With Us

Luxury gym brand Equinox has kicked off the New Year with a great social media campaign announcing it’s not accepting new members for the whole of January.

In a bid to avoid the Resolution Rush (trademark pending), Equinox put its money where its mouth is to prove it caters to serious gym-goers only, and part-timers need not apply.

I’m aware the campaign has experienced a little backlash online but I’ve got to say, I find it refreshingly honest and completely on brand for them. 

They could easily take money from people that either can’t or won’t commit to #GymLife long-term and make a decent profit as memberships get forgotten or cancelled waaaaay down the line, but instead they chose not to.

In reality, those of us who are fair-weather gym visitors have plenty of other options available to us as we try to maintain our ‘Be more active’/’Get healthy’ resolutions, and this way Equinox is protecting current members from busier sessions while also attracting the right kind of client from February onwards.

Plus the backlash is really what got the social campaign picked up in the press in the first place, giving it much wider reach. 

Kudos to all involved!

And finally…

If you’ll indulge me, I'd like to share my hopes for creative PR over the next 12 months and beyond.

I’m sitting writing this on the evening before my daughter’s 4th birthday, after a tough festive period that still managed to be filled with pockets of joy (largely because of her!) and it got me thinking about places we can all find joy.

We spend so much of our time either in work or thinking about work because we love it, but sometimes it can become oppressive, especially when we’re searching for that next big idea, ensuring our work is ‘worthy’ enough, or kicking ourselves for not hitting the same levels of success as a competing campaign.

My hope for 2023 is that we bring some lightness and silliness back to creative work. 

PR with purpose has its place, but so do campaigns that help consumers find pockets of joy in their own lives, especially now. When reality looks like it does right now, we owe ourselves - the brands we work with and every consumer - a joyful escape whenever we can.

In short, let’s make work that helps people be as excited and hopeful about something as my (now) four-year-old is about everything!

Now let’s go and create our little socks off, at the very least so I have more to write about next week and don’t have to get all sentimental on you again.

If you’re launching anything exciting over the next few weeks or spot a campaign online that you love please send it our way!

Email angharad@weareradioactive.com, tom@weareradioactive.com, and rich@weareradioactive.com or you can find us on Twitter @Welsh_PR, @TomGibbon_, and @RichLeighPR.

Catch you next week.

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