“Go OFF, Queen”: Why Troye Sivan Is the Perfect Chief Vibes OFFicer for Smirnoff
Smirnoff, the Diageo vodka brand, has announced a multi-year partnership with GRAMMY-nominated pop artist Troye Sivan, who will serve as its chief vibes OFFicer (CVO). The collaboration will integrate Sivan into the brand’s ‘WE DO WE’ campaign, first launched in 2023, which focuses on celebrating collective experiences and connections.
The partnership launched with a video featuring Troye in a press conference-style announcement of his new role. It also includes Smirnoff’s sponsorship of Troye’s Australia and New Zealand tour, with plans for exclusive after-parties in Sydney and Melbourne. Smirnoff will further showcase Troye embodying the ‘Go OFF’ message through social media, out-of-home, digital content, in-store displays, and event activations in over 20 countries, including the UK, Brazil, Australia and India.
The campaign involves a creative collective including Dazed Studio, McCann, director Hannah Lux Davis, and stylist Marc Forne, who has worked with Troye on previous projects. This initiative is part of Diageo’s broader strategy to position its brands within significant cultural moments such as music, fashion, sports and food.
LBB’s Alex Reeves asked Diageo’s SVP for global vodkas Stephanie Jacoby why Troye is the perfect CVO for Smirnoff.
LBB> When we last spoke, ‘WE DO WE’ was just launching. How has the campaign developed since then to the point where you’re appointing a chief vibes OFFicer telling us all to ‘go off’?
Stephanie> Since we spoke 18 months ago, 'We do We' is now live in over 100 countries around the world, which is super exciting, and we're really proud of it. This partnership feels so natural and so right for this brand. We feel that so much. Our belief is that the world is better when people are together – we're better together.
We feel that 'Go OFF' on our partnership with Troye is really a call to action. Ditch the to-do list, embrace the fun, get together with friends. It's about good cocktails, good times, good friends. And I think from the very first conversations with Troye, he just shares this belief in the collective. He really brings so much joy. He's so inclusive in the way he invites everyone into his music.
At the end of the day, it's just so much fun to put something like this into the world, to bring so much joy to people. And just seeing the responses that we're getting on social media and the comments, people are loving it. It's just awesome to be part of something like that. So it feels like a very natural next chapter in the campaign.
LBB> How do you define the ‘Go OFF’ spirit?
Stephanie> Basically 'Go OFF' is this idea of unabashed approval of something. A yes, 'Go OFF', or 'Go OFF, queen’, as Troye would say. Sometimes life can get very serious. We know there's been a lot of conversation about the joy recession and people not spending enough time together and in real life, and perhaps too much time on their phones. So this idea of 'Go OFF' is, we all have responsibilities, but it is equally important to take advantage of times where you can put something off till tomorrow, in order to be able to make that time to get together with a friend, spend time in real life, do something fun. We all need more fun and togetherness in our lives. And I think that's what 'Go OFF' really is - a rally cry to remind people to just go do it.
LBB> And how does that fit more broadly within ‘WE DO WE’?
Stephanie> The core belief at the heart of the campaign is that we're better together. In the launch of the campaign, we put that belief out to the world in a lot of creative ways. 'Go OFF' with Troye is our call to action. It's like, 'OK, now get after it.' Get after making sure that you're taking the time to bring your crew together, have fun. Troye is someone who really shares that spirit with us. Coming off of his SWEAT tour with Charli xcx and 'Something to Give Each Other' now in Australia and New Zealand, he just brings such a vibe to his audiences and much inclusivity and joy, which is something that we really celebrate.
LBB> How did it come together creatively? What were the important decisions there?
Stephanie> Dazed are just so brilliant – a youth culture hot house. They're just so in what's going on in culture and the conversations. I think the key idea that we all really gravitated towards was using corporate satire as a way in. We also knew how important it was that we keep this really authentic to Troye's audience, and really fun and entertaining. With those guard rails, Smirnoff talks a lot about vibes, and this idea of the 'vibe shifter' – that person in your friend group, that gets people to go and do the thing. Close your laptops. It's time for us to meet up for happy hour, or go to karaoke or go dancing or whatever that thing is. And Troye is the ultimate vibe shifter. So I think, taking that corporate satire line, then of course he would be the chief vibes OFFicer for Smirnoff. It's a role for which he is unequivocally qualified for, obviously.
From there, it led into this creative idea of, if we're announcing this role, we should do that with the most unserious press conference ever. That led to the creative that we launched [this week], announcing the partnership. The thing I love about chief vibes OFFicer, is it's so authentic to Troye and to what we celebrate as a brand. And this is just the beginning. So I know there are going to be so many creative ways that we use him and his spirit, our partnership, to bring the spirit of celebration and fun to his fans and our fans all over the world.
LBB> We speak a lot about brands responding to culture versus playing an active role as part of the cultural fabric. How do you ensure you're at the right end of the spectrum?
Stephanie> In terms of how we partnered with Troye, it was really important to us to be really true to his fans and to our fans. Troye has been such an amazing collaborator on this, and I think the opportunity to partner with him to do something that was really fresh and authentic and just fun and entertaining was really critical to guide how we did it. It's been really awesome to see the comments and social media. He's posted on his Instagram, and you can just see it speaks so authentically to his audience, they're so into it and having so much fun with it. That's the ultimate litmus test. We're creating something fresh and new. Obviously it's connected into the cultural conversation, but something new and really authentic, in particular, for a new set of consumers that we want to engage with this brand.
LBB> Now we've had the announcement, what will Troye be doing in his new role?
Stephanie> This is just the beginning, the announcement. The next leg of it is going to be us sponsoring the Australia and New Zealand leg of his global tour, 'Something to Give Each Other'. We're going to have immersive 'Club Crush' afterparties in both Melbourne and Sydney, where some of his fans will have an opportunity to be invited to that. That's another example of how we're using this partnership to create these really immersive, joyful, fun experiences again, for his audience and for ours. But there's so much more to come, and we're really excited to continue to collaborate.
LBB> How will this campaign play out across the over 20 markets that this is running in?
Stephanie> It is truly amazing to see the love of Troye across all of our markets. He is so globally connected and I think everyone from fans in Brazil to fans in Germany to GB to Australia are all super excited about this, which is awesome.
The great thing is that Troye is a partner on our entire trademark. Smirnoff is a brand that is for everyone, about bringing people together. We demonstrate that, not only in our advertising and what we do, but also in our very robust range of products. So everything from Smirnoff 21 vodka, all the way to our Smirnoff Ice portfolio and all of the flavours, depending on where we are in the world. It's hot in Australia, fans might want to enjoy a refreshing cold Smirnoff Ice as they enjoy Troye. So they will see Troy showing up as chief vibes officer across the entire portfolio. We have such a range of products and cocktails for people to enjoy Smirnoff, no matter the season. We've got a vibe for everyone and a product for everyone.
I will say that Troye's favourite serve is the dirty martini, extra dirty. So that will be playing a prominent role.
LBB> That fits. It seems like dirty martinis are having a cultural moment.
Stephanie> They definitely are. They never really went out of style, but I think they're definitely having a cultural moment. Troy is here for that, for sure. I think he's in his dirty martini era.
There's so much more to come. He's so fabulous. I think he really lives the values that we champion as a brand. So it's just so wonderful when you find a partner who is able to help you amplify that in the world.
LBB> And he’s adjacent to Charli xcx after we had brat summer, so it feels like a great cultural pick!
Stephanie> Yeah! We're advocating that ‘Go OFF winter’.
