How does Absolut’s marketing build upon American trends in the late1980s and early 1990s? Is Absolut a fashion product that will decline with the trends?

What is the foundation of Absolut Vodka’s success? Is it the vodka, the bottle, the distribution or the promotion?

Most of the success stories in marketing begin with the introduction of a great or unique product. Well, Absolut is not the case! The competitiveness of Absolut Vodka has almost nothing to do with the product itself. The breakthrough came when a bottle was finally chosen. Like many breakthroughs it came purely by chance and in retrospect seems almost too obvious. Of course the bottle itself is not enough to sell the product. With Absolut we are in front of a perfect example of using integrated marketing approach. The Absolut’s success is a combination between the promotion, the bottle, the distribution and the product itself. Michel Roux played a leading role in the success of Vodka Absolut by using both marketing and distribution.

The idea behind the Absolut advertisements is 'All advertising should centre around the bottle, the product should not be identified with any particular lifestyle, and the approach should have a timeless yet contemporary feel to it.' Every advertisement has two features in common: the depiction of an Absolut bottle and a two- or three-word caption beginning with the word 'Absolut'.

How does Absolut’s marketing build upon American trends in the late1980s and early 1990s? Is Absolut a fashion product that will decline with the trends?

The decision for export of Absolut in 1979 appeared because of the attitude of US customers towards “white spirits”. The existence of a market is not enough for success. Vin & Sprit made their first right move by hiring experienced marketing and management experts to create a product for the discovered market. Their next successful step was the choice of a bottle which gives them the opportunity to create the theme of “Absolut Country of Sweden Vodka”. Being inexperienced on the American market they made their next huge step towards success – they hired local advertisement and distribution agency. They were lucky to have people like Michel Roux to work for them.

The next huge step was the sensational marketing approach (the ads, the PR strategy, etc.) which helped not only to sell the product, but to establish it strongly on the market. Cooperating with artists and designers in all the contemporary arts was one of the key points in Absolut development.

Absolut is connected to fashion but not just because of being fashionable. Absolut Vodka entered the fashion world in a big way with a small dress. In 1987 Absolut photographer Steve Bronstein shot model Rachel Williams in a one-of-a-kind dress creation. The commission was a much noticed one and since then Absolut Vodka has had a regular involvement in the fashion world. Absolut Vodka has asked famous and less known designers to create everything from dresses to ties. Absolut Fashions are often worth their weight in gold. One example is Anthony Ferrara's solid gold dress – made entirely out of 18K gold, 7 kilos (16 pounds) of it to be exact. Price: USD 530,000. In the spirit of Christmas, Absolut Vodka enclosed a pair of designer gloves by Donna Karan in the December issue of the US magazine New York.

In the beginning maybe Absolut was just fashion now it is part of our lives. If some years ago people have bought Absolut vodka just for being new, interesting and fashionable now they buy it because they have tried it and liked it.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 1123