Absolut Resurgence

Posted on February 19, 2008 | Permalink

By Lane Casteix

Absolut Vodka is a brand the focus groups said was born dead in 1979 when it was introduced. The clear bottle with the fired on label (ACL - Applied Color Label) was virtually invisible on the shelf, which is often the kiss of death for a packaged goods product. But the brand overcame that weakness and turned it into a strength with a powerful advertising campaign that made branding history. The ad campaign focused on the Absolut Vodka bottle and connected the brand with iconic world art figures, just the ticket to connect with the upmarket target audience. Absolut Vodka (with a little help from the Soviet Union shooting down a passenger airliner and their own Stolichnaya Vodka brand at the same time) built the super premium vodka category.

Alas, history marches on and Absolut as a brand experienced weakening sales, as the brand faced intense competition from new and exciting super premium vodka brands entering the market.

They dumped the iconic Absolut ads and introduced a new campaign in 2007 titled "In An Absolut World" - and the brand experienced a rebirth as sales shot up 9%. You can read about that campaign here.

Much of the success can be attributed to the campaign creative, which used an emotional appeal rather than rational, which touts benefits such as taste, distillation, or origin. That was summed up by TBWA Managing Director Jamie Gallo who said the campaign attempted to steer Absolut clear of what he called the "rational benefits" being claimed by so many upstarts in the category, many of whom boast the best taste or the smoothest feel. Many of these claims contradict each other, and a few have even wound up in lawsuits. "We know people don't purchase as much on rational benefits as on emotional benefits," he said.

Yeah, that is what I have been saying. You have to touch the heart to build a brand. Absolut gets it and is an advertising winner as a result.