ROKK Vodka Takes Pride in its Brand

ROKK Vodka, the freeze-filtered Swedish brand, proved its inclusive marketing by sponsoring the 22nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards in March in New York.

With a tagline of "Filtering out inequality," ROKK rolled out a blue carpet for paparazzi portion of the event, and encouraged presenters and winners to incorporate "ROKK Vodka" into their speeches that evening in return for a charitable contribution from the brand — raising $10,000 in New York alone.

Hosted by Bravo TV's Andy Cohen, with Tracy Young as guest DJ, Ricky Martin and Russell Simmons received awards in a star-studded crowd that included Mike Ruiz, Laverne Cox, Nikki Peet, Tina Fey, Gail Simmons, Derek Warburton and 5,000 attendees in recognition of outstanding representations of the LGBT community in the media.

"We hope some of the new ideas we are incorporating into this year's Media Awards will add to the fun but more importantly keeps ROKK's mission to 'filter out inequality' front and center by increasing donations to GLAAD and their programs," commented Adam Rosen, Rokk's brand director in a press release.

Brandchannel asked Rosen about the origin of the "filtering out inequality" tagline and its gay-positive marketing platform.

“The tagline came about as a result of a creative brainstorm with GLAAD," says Rosen. "We were discussing our role as the national presenting partner of the GLAAD Media Awards and the line came up completely organically mid-conversation. It’s a tagline that really embodies what we stand for as a brand and personifies the work we’re trying to accomplish with GLAAD.”

Rokk's "Filter out inequality" posters were also in evidence during last week's Pride events across the US. This wasn't just ROKK's first year of 'gay marketing' — it's the brand's first year of national marketing, period.

“We launched in August (of 2010) and began our partnership with GLAAD as soon as we were on shelves," he notes. "We appeal to a wide range of vodka drinkers,  from members of the LGBT community from our partnership with GLAAD, to 21-29 year-old men from having The Lonely Island as our Creative Directors – we cover it all!”

The reception to the humorous Andy Samberg partnership via Lonely Island and the LGBT outreach have been well received, he adds.

“We’ve had a ton of positive feedback from our ROKK-sponsored events! Not only is ROKK an exceptionally smooth vodka, but we’re a brand that gives back, as seen by our partnership with GLAAD and the work we’re doing to raise additional funds for the organization. We raised an additional $30,000 at the GLAAD Media Awards through our 'I Wanna ROKK' campaign, where we pledged $100 for every 'ROKK' said onstage during the three shows.”

Targeted marketing that's inclusive in its appeal, and entertaining with a heart? Rokk on!

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