Absolut vodka

http://en.oboulo.com/international-marketing-communication-absolut-vodka-case-70855.html http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2008_Dec_5/ai_n31122599/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt7eOs7iG2Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL4EsZv_ltU&NR=1 vaibhav.panchal2010@yahoo.com

Thursday September 24th, 2009 17:29

The History of Absolut

Vodka
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As a marketing student I cannot recall how many times the vodka brand Absolut was either referred to by a lecturer or by myself in projects and coursework. The brand has been behind one of the most creative advertising campaigns of the last 30 years but how much do you know about the history, marketing and art of this is iconic brand? A Brief History

Distilled for the first time as Absolut Rent Branvin (or Absolute Pure Vodka) in 1879 by Swedish entrepreneur Lars Olsson Smith. The brand immediatly had difficulty in breaking the monopoly on the sale of spirits in Stockholm. To overcome this hurdle Lars set up shop, on an island, just outside the city limits and offered customers a free boat ride to the island, an inventive marketing ploy at the time. While initially successful, Lars accumulated a great

deal of wealth only to lose it, regain it and lose it again before dying penniless in 1913. The brand disappeared. During the 1970s the Swedish state owned V&S Vin & Sprit AB recognised an emergeing premium Vodka market in the USA. The company set about to develop the finest Vodka on the market supported with branding that would would reflect its country of origin. Absolute Pure Vodka, created 100 years previous fitted the concept. Its famous bottle shape is that of a 16th centaury Swedish medicine bottle, that, back then, would often contain vodka for medicinal purposes. However the name was difficult to trademark in the USA. The e was dropped on Absolute, as was the word Pure, and thus Absolut Vodka was born. Sales of the vodka have been impressive since its launch. By 1990 almost 3.6 million cases were sold, this almost doubled to 7 million by 2000 and rose again to 11.8 million in 2008. Absolut vodka was sold by the Swedish state in 2008 for $8.89 billion. Thats a lot of vodka
Ownership ABSOLUT used to belong to V&S Absolut Spirits within V&S Group which was owned by the Swedish Government. The Government decided to sell V&S Group to Pernod Ricard and the closing of the deal was July 24, 2008. The company is currently owned by Pernod Ricard Holding Company.

Varieties

Several different types of Absolut Vodka.

Absolut Vodka is available in many varieties. These varieties are unflavored beyond the standard process:

Absolut VODKA (40%, blue label, launched in 1979) Absolut BRITTO (normal absolut vodka, blue label, in a special edition design by artist Romero Britto, launched in 2003) Absolut LEVEL, a super-premium vodka, launched in 2004) Absolut BODY ART (normal absolut vodka, blue label, in a special edition design by artist Jean-Luc Moerman, launched in 2005) Absolut 100 (100 proof, black bottle, launched in 2007) Absolut DISCO (normal absolut vodka, blue label, in a special edition disco cover, launched 2007) Absolut C'N'C FASHION ANIMAL (limited edition by Ennio Capasa, launched in 2007) Absolut GREENSAVER (limited edition, launched in 2008)

Absolut BLING-BLING (normal Absolut vodka, limited edition golden bottle, launched in 2006) Absolut CHROME (1 - 2 - 3 - 4) (normal absolut vodka, blue label, in a special edition design, launched in 2006) Absolut COLORS (40%, blue label) Limited edition celebrating 30th anniversary of the Rainbow flag, launched in 2008) Absolut MASQUERADE (normal absolut vodka, blue label, in a sequinned red sleeve, launched 2009 with the slogan "In an Absolut world every night is a masquerade.") [4], launched in 2008) Absolut ROCK (normal Absolut vodka, limited-edition bottle with studded leather cover, launched in 2009) Absolut VANCOUVER (City themed bottle series limited to 60,000 bottles, launched in 2010) Absolut GLIMMER[5] (normal Absolut vodka in a limited-edition bottle that mimics a crystal decanter, launched in 2010) Absolut 72 BIAN (Transform) (normal absolut vodka, blue label, in a special edition design by artist Gao Yu, launched in 2010) Absolut ZENG FANZHI for Joyce (normal absolut vodka, blue label, in a special edition design by artist Zeng Fanzhi, launched in 2010) Absolut ELYX (a super-premium edition, launched in 2010) Absolut BROOKLYN (ginger flavored, design by Spike Lee)

Flavored varieties, in chronological order:

Absolut PEPPAR (Roasted Jalapeos, Green Tomato and Dried Herbs flavor the first flavored Absolut Vodka, launched in 1986) Absolut CITRON (Lemon flavor, launched in 1988) Absolut KURANT (Blackcurrant flavor, launched in 1992) Absolut MANDRIN (Orange and mandarin flavor mix, launched in 1999) Absolut VANILIA (Vanilla flavor, launched in 2003) Absolut RASPBERRI (Raspberry flavor, launched in 2004) Absolut APEACH (Peach flavor, launched in 2005) Absolut RUBY RED (Grapefruit flavor, launched in June 2006) Absolut PEARS (Pear flavor, launched in January 2007) Absolut NEW ORLEANS (Mango and Black Pepper flavor, launched in August 2007). Absolut MANGO (Mango flavor, launched in 2007) Absolut LOS ANGELES (Acai, Acerola, Pomegranate, and Blueberry flavor mix, launched in 2008). Absolut BOSTON (Black tea and Elderflower flavor with Clear bottle, green label, launched in 2009) Absolut FLAVOR OF THE TROPICS (Tropical flavor including orange, mango, lychee pineapple and melon launched October 2009)[6] Absolut BERRI AA (blend of aa, blueberry and pomegranate, launched in 2010)[7] Absolut BROOKLYN (City limited edition; red apple and ginger flavor, launched in 2010)[8] Absolut WILD TEA (black tea, elderflower, launched in 2010) Absolut WATKINS (Travel-retail exclusive, with notes of ground coffee, almond, caramel and chili, launched in 2010)[9]

http://www.absolutads.com/gallery/

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Secrets of Successful Ad Campaigns: Lessons from Absolut, Nike and NASCAR

Drinking and driving don't mix, but Absolut vodka and NASCAR now have something in common. The two companies were honored, along with Nike, as winners of the Excellence in Marketing awards at a CMO Summit held at Wharton on Sept. 19-20.

Representatives of the three companies made presentations describing their awardwinning campaigns to an audience of chief marketing officers. The conference was sponsored by Wharton, McKinsey & Co. and the Marketing Science Institute.

The following article summarizes the three campaigns and describes how the companies brands benefited from them.

Absolut: Absolutely No Change in 22 Years Absolut vodka has been running essentially the same print advertising campaign for a remarkable 22 years. All 1,500 of the ads in the campaign have featured or make sly reference to Absolut s distinctive bottle, with the stubby neck and see-through label. All also employ variations on the two-word tagline used in the original ad, which showed the bottle with a halo above the words Absolut Perfection.

We understand that we're selling vodka; we're not selling ads, explained Richard Lewis, worldwide account representative for TBWAChiatDay, the advertising agency for V&S Vin & Sprit AB, which produces Absolut. The hero is the bottle. The bottle is the star.

When the campaign began in 1980, the U.S. vodka market totaled about 40 million cases per year. Imported vodka contributed some 450,000 cases of that total and most of it was Russian-made Stolichnaya. Absolut, which is manufactured in Sweden, sold a mere 10,000 cases. Russia clearly had the market on authenticity, according to Lewis. Brands took names that sounded Russian even if they werent made there. Absolut sounded like quality but not a brand name.

Facing that challenge, Absolut sought to position itself as a smart, stylish, contemporary, creative, unexpected, witty brand of superior quality. The Absolut tagline reinforced the name until it did sound like a brand.

Over the years, the bottles profile has been used to mimic, for example, a ski slope, a polygraphs printout and the rotund frame of Alfred Hitchcock. There have also been regional variations, including a bottle-shaped swimming pool for the Los Angeles market and a bottle in the shape of New Yorks Central Park. In Philadelphia, Absolut ads offered a likeness of Ben Franklin wearing bottle-shaped spectacles.

Contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol and Keith Haring have done ads for Absolut and the company has run ads painted in the style of Rubens and other old masters. Fashion designers Gianni Versace, Helmut Lang, Manolo Blahnik and Anna Molinari have created clothing for ads and promotions; celebrity photographers Herb Ritts and Annie Liebowitz also have taken part. Ads have incorporated album covers from David Bowie, Miles Davis and the Velvet Underground.

None of the ads was subjected to a focus group or other research before it ran, according to Lewis. Yet they have become such a part of pop culture that Lewiss 1996 book on the campaign, Absolut Book: The Absolut Vodka Advertising Story, sold 300,000 copies. Lewis describes such behind-the-scenes schemes as using wheat to attract pigeons in Piazza San Marco to form the shape of a bottle of Absolut Venice.

The campaigns creativity has earned it free publicity as well. A magazine insert that was a working snow globe became the subject of dozens of news stories one December. When Absolut packaged 500,000 ties with its Fathers Day ad in the New York Times, Regis Philbin wore one of them on his talk show the next day.

While the U.S. market for vodka has declined, to 36 million cases in 2000, Absoluts share has risen dramatically to 4.5 million cases, more than half of all the imported brands. In Advertising Ages listing of the top 10 ad campaigns of the 20 th Century, Absoluts was the only one that did not use television.

Even after two decades, theres plenty of life left in the campaign, Lewis said. Theres no shortage of ideas. The challenge is to come up with good ones.

Absolute vodka is famous for its ad campaigns from the year 1980. In the year 1980 Absoult vodka did its first ad campaign.