Click above to play the spot

Be advised that Sean “Diddy” Combs might say that if you’re not drinking Ciroc vodka while you’re reading this article, you’re not reading it the right way.

It’s not necessary, of course, but don’t be surprised if you find yourself craving a Ciroc Champagne Cosmo a few paragraphs from now.

A few years ago, when Diageo announced that Diddy would be taking on all brand management decisions for the company’s Ciroc vodka, the multi-media mogul said, “Everybody has their marketing lingo, but I’m about results.”

A few years—and a reported well over 500% growth in Ciroc sales—later, Combs and his Blue Flame Marketing group wanted results during the recent holiday season when they turned to HOT 97 for campaign ideas. HOT 97 Lifestyle Program Manager Imani Johnson started at the finish line by first clearly defining the target consumer.

Who is the Ciroc drinker? What do they look like, what do they wear, where are they drinking their Ciroc? But most importantly, what captures and holds their attention?

Borrowing from Diddy’s own formulas—that content might be king but only when it’s content people are interested in and that the only way people are going to pay attention to your content is if it’s tagged to something they like—HOT 97 created a campaign—directed by its video producer Rob Alexander—largely driven by custom-branded videos featuring the station’s own popular mixers, who had been dubbed “Ciroc Boyz.”

The emphasis was on entertainment and on content that would engage the consumer. With Ciroc-messaging inserted throughout. For instance, cameras trailed the HOT 97 personalities day and night, creating “Day in the Life” segments that captured exclusive candid moments, the jocks mixing on air or in clubs, and personally enjoying Ciroc cocktails.

Another example of the exclusive content created for Ciroc included “Ciroc Mix of the Week” videos showing HOT mixers DJ Enuff and DJ Camilo in action, live on air. Here, in order to cross-promote the Ciroc message with lifestyle integration, each mix clip opened and closed with a Ciroc statement and a drink recipe. A branded HOT 97 TV player was created which lived on Ciroc’s Facebook page. The custom branded entertainment was shown here via two new platforms designed specifically for this campaign by HOT 97: Ciroc TV and Ciroc Radio.

Ciroc used all of this original content to further establish its presence in video inside the social and digital environments, strengthening the brand even more. Ciroc Facebook numbers grew significantly during this campaign. And the brand used the original content to grow its YouTube channel as well.

HOT 97’s holiday Ciroc campaign epitomizes the changing face of RADIO. This was predominantly a digital campaign that involved substantial video production elements. Spots supported the messaging, but it was the regularly-refreshed, custom content that captured the consumer’s attention and kept them engaged.