“Perrier is the sexiest sparkling water you'll ever taste,” according to the 150-year-old brand, which is trying to woo a younger audience with a sexy and sparkling online gaming experience, Perrier Secret Place. 

“Secret Place is an immersive experience with a surprise at every turn, something that will be highly engaging for our target audience. And at a party that goes on for hours, we like to think of Perrier as the drink that can refresh like no other," according to a press release.

It's being marketed as the most high-profile, crazy party experience ever, dispensing clues through the eyes of 60 different characters along with a sweepstakes to win an invitation to one of five mega-parties taking place at Carnival in Rio, Ibiza in Spain, St. Tropez in France, Art Basel in Miami or New Year’s Eve in Sydney, Australia.Continue reading...

Evian, Volvic, and Perrier have long dominated the high-end and high-margin water market in China, but things are changing and Chinese brands are charging forward to grab their share.

Evian was inspected for quality issues for the sixth time in six years earlier this year and recently announced that it wasn’t clear exactly how the excessive nitrate found in its product actually got there, as Beverage Daily notes. Local brands, meanwhile, are eager to entice drinkers their way.

The five-year-old Tibet 5100 Water Resources Holdings Ltd., a Chinese company that produces 5100 Tibet Glacier Spring Water, “said its revenues in 2011 were 633 million yuan ($99.2 million), up 76 percent from the previous year,” China Daily reports. The company’s gross profit margin was 79 percent, up from 64 percent in 2010. But Tibet 5100 is an anomaly.Continue reading...

Perrier is in the midst of an interactive marketing campaign — one that comes, naturally, with a twist. In what's being billed as a first, the French beverage brand has opened Le Club Perrier on YouTube. As the screenshot above indicates, as more people watch, more of the online experience is revealed.Continue reading...

The first preview for the weighty, moody new NBC TV series (coming this fall) about the iconic brand, The Playboy Club, is out.

The question is, will Playboy be able to capitalize on the attention to bring a little of its former luster to a brand that many now know more as a E! reality show staple? Besides paying homage to house that Hef built, it's also a potential windfall for the city of Chicago following the cancellation of FOX's Chicago Code.

Clearly, when it comes to new releases, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has the weekend nearly to itself. So before we get to our look at upcoming releases, here's a look at another retro 60's brand that popping up on US TV screens this fall.Continue reading...

Hotels.com is extending its Clay Yourself digital avatar campaign with a social entertainment experience to woo Facebookers to engage with the brand.

Billed as three wild nights and featuring b-list celebs, the mildly risque "Trip Your Face" experience combines elements of the OfficeMax Elf Yourself campaign, Perrier's digital tease with Dita Von Teese and ties into pre-Hangover 2 buzz, without being overtly related to that movie's plot or characters.

The Expedia-owned site's new Trip Your Face website is the hub for an interactive journey that starts when visitors select one of three destinations (New York, Paris or Las Vegas) and upload their Facebook photo plus profile photos of up to three friends to participate in the fun.Continue reading...

We appreciate that vodka is a crowded and competitive category, so we can't blame Van Gogh Blue for embarking on a new campaign to woo women. We're just not convinced that the ads will appeal to the target demo, assuming they're going after career women, as the print campaign aims to titillate (exhibit A, right).

The vodka brand's pitch to women in the 25-44 demo is “You, unbottled.” We'd love to know who "You" is, and if this provocative and cheeky campaign will seriously attract women to choose Van Gogh Blue next time they order a greyhound — maybe Van Gogh would prefer they order a dirty vodka (martini)?

Another ad features a woman with long legs, martini glass in hand, and the caption: “I like my vodka straight but my friends can go either way.”

Of course, the branding strategists at Van Gogh would argue that they're just trying to “stand out in the clutter and glut,” as Jonathan Bleiberg, COO and president of Van Gogh vodka and gin distributor Luctor International tells the New York Times.

He also blogged about the campaign, "leave the kids with the babysitter, and join the party." So this is aimed at moms? Continue reading...

Brandchannel recently took a peek at Perrier's risque business with burlesque artist Dita Von Teese. Now comes word from the U.K. of Volvo's European launch of its S60 model — or as Volvo calls it, the Naughty S60. 

Volvo, trying to shake its image as a family-friendly brand, recently hosted underground parties in London, Paris, Milan, Berlin and Madrid. In addition to hip musical acts (such as Facehunter and Lykke Li), to drive word of mouth Volvo invited a mix of hipsters, bloggers and celebrities.

A mobile augmented reality app guided guests to the hidden parties. But that's not what made it all (and one event in particular) particularly naughty.Continue reading...

France's sparkling water brand Perrier meets America's burlesque queen Dita Von Teese in a new campaign designed to drive consumers to check out its online interactive, The Perrier Mansion. It's a tad risque, so visitors must enter their date of birth in a clever security keypad at the gate.

The campaign was also promoted via cryptic messages on Twitter and Foursquare. Nylon Music designed the exclusive soundscape for the interactive experience as "a perfect balance between racy and recognizable." Catch glimpses of the NSFW (she's scantily clad; do as she says or she'll kick you out) storyline after the jump.Continue reading...