Absolut Vodka is a French-owned brand of vodka, produced near Ahus, Skane, in southern Sweden. Since March 2008, the company has been owned by the French firm Pernod Ricard, having been sold by V&S Group, which is owned by the Swedish government. Absolut is the third largest brand of alcoholic spirits in the world after Bacardi and Smirnoff, and is sold in 126 countries. Absolut’s beautiful “Anthem” commercial was the result of a collaborative effort by a group of artists, who created art installations in scenic locations around the world.
The art pieces in the commercial spell out the core philosophy of the company, "See something different in an ABSOLUT WORLD. " “Anthem” is a both literal and symbolic manifestation of ABSOLUT VODKA’s belief making it an appropriate name for the campaign itself. ‘Anthem’ conveys the most fundamental brand belie
...f and states that ABSOLUT has a long-term commitment to creativity. ” The Emmy award nominated Absolut Manifesto advert focuses on the theme that doing something different leads to something exceptional.The commercial was the brainchild of Mark Figliulo, and was directed by Rupert Sanders (of Monster “Legs” commercial fame) in association with Mass Market, a visual effects company.
Much of Absolut's fame is due to its long-running advertising campaign, created by advertising agency TBWA, based on the distinctive bottle shape. Having started around 1980 with photographer Steven Bronstein, and with more than 1500 ads, the ad campaign is the longest running ever. The ads frequently feature an Absolut bottle-shaped object in the center and a title "ABSOLUT ____. at the bottom. Absolut was one of the first consumer brands to openly embrace the gay community and view
its members as important and desirable consumers of its product.
Its ads have appeared ingay media since 1981, and the company has long sponsored major gay events Message Execution The way in which the advertising appeal has been executed is the straight sell/factual message execution. This type of execution relies on a straightforward presentation of information about the product or service such as specific attributes or benefits.The message executed represents the core philosophy of the brand itself and the message has been creatively executed by representing the text in a variety of ways. The message has been displayed using text and is also verbally presented at the end of the commercial. One of the strongest and most appreciated factors about this commercial was the song used as it appealed to the target audience. Shot at six different locations a crew of artisans have created large-scale installations out of ice blocks, wheat, two thousand hanging ABSOLUT bottles, flying lanterns, gigantic balloons and a myriad of glass cylinders.
Each installation forms a word and is crafted to tell its part of the ABSOLUT story – from the iconic shape of the bottle and the Swedish winter wheat distilled to the urban landscapes in which ABSOLUT VODKA is enjoyed. OFFERING 1. Product: ABSOLUT VODKA is a French-owned brand of vodka, produced near Ahus, Skane, in southern Sweden. ABSOLUT VODKA is made exclusively from natural ingredients, and unlike other vodkas, it doesn’t contain any added sugar.
In fact ABSOLUT is as pure as vodka can be. It is rich, full-bodied and complex, yet smooth and mellow with a distinct character of grain, followed by a hint of dried fruit.The main
ingredients in ABSOLUT VODKA are water and winter wheat. The water comes from a deep well in Ahus where it’s protected from impurities. Winter wheat differs from other crops as it’s sown in fall, and harvested in the next one.
Days in between it grows under the Swedish snow developing its hard grain. Also, the use of fertilizers is minimized for the harvest of this grain. The product of ABSOLUT VODKA is over 30 years old and so is the iconic ABSOLUT VODKA bottle which was inspired by a 18th century medicine flask found in an antique store in Stockholm.Even though ABSOLUT VODKA is simply vodka but it comes in different varieties and flavors: ? Absolut VODKA ?Absolut BRITTO ?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 byEnnio 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 COLORS (40%, blue label) Limited edition celebrating 30th anniversary of the Rainbow flag, launched in 2008 ? Absolut MASQUERADE ?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 ZENG FANZHI for Joyce (normal absolut vodka, blue label, in a special edition design by artist Zeng Fanzhi, launched in 2010)
? Absolut VANILIA, Rasberry, Peach, Pears, New Orleans, Mango etc 2. Market Share: Vodka, an alcoholic beverage believed to have originated in Russia, is one of the most consumed spirits in the world.
Vodka that was once rarely consumed outside of Europe before the 1905s has captured the international markets including the United States and by 1975, vodka market has overtaken the traditional Bourbon market in the USA.In many countries, vodka market has been growing at 35 to 40% growth rates. In terms of consumption, vodka has seen a growth of about 2% every year since last couple of years. Due to rise in the popularity of flavored vodka and countless vodka cocktails, global vodka market including the United States, Asia, Africa and Europe is likely to capture the top position in few more years. ABSOLUT VODKA was established in 1879 but it was not until 1979 that the brand was introduced globally.
Since its launch, ABSOLUT has grown from 90,000 litres to 96. 6million litres in 2008.In US, it has become the second largest international spirit with a 14% share of the spirits market and is available in 126 countries. In 2008, ABSOLUT held 40% of the global market share in the fast-growing premium vodka category; more than triple that of any of its competitors.
In US alone, it controls about 9% of the US vodka market volume which is more than any other brand. 3. Product Life Cycle: The alcoholic drinks industry has undoubtedly grown a lot and has seen a marked evolution in terms of brand association, with products continually being re-launched amid a flurry of whistles and bells.While most organizations are
keen to stress that the brands they represent still retain their core values, some have repositioned themselves in a drive to attract a premium price for a value-added sell. Absolute Vodka was introduced in the global market over 30 years back and considering their rising sales and market share we can say that the product is still in its growth stage and moving towards maturity with the overall market getting bigger and bigger with new competitors entering the market. Absolut has continuously improvised to bring about product differentiation and by promotion of the same.
The company has increased it distribution networks by associating with more dealers. The product should also be marketed and placed in new market segments as it has already gained enough attention in previous sector. Since Absolut is still in the growth stage it should try to enhance its market share through introduction of different variants like it has in the past and by also revising its pricing strategy. Absolut has realized the importance of strong communication and still utilizes an effective advertising campaign to boost sales and enhance market share as compared to competitors.COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVE Theoretically, communication in advertising is based on either one or more of these three objectives: Cognition or knowledge, Affection or feeling and Behaviour or impact. The communication objective in this case was emphasizing on behaviour or impact more than cognition or affection.
The advertisement focuses on creating an impact in the minds of the viewers and stays in the mind longer because of the message it gives out: doing something differently leads to something exceptional.The objective is to create an impact in the viewer’s mind so
that they remember the advertisement for a long time. The advertisement is made to be mesmerizing and captivating through the use of various colors, words and choice of backgrounds. This creates an image in the minds of the viewers that is difficult to forget. TARGET AUDIENCE The target audience for any advertisement is those people who would have the potential to buy the product or use the service or at least affected by the product in some way.In this case, the target audience is the influencers within their group.
For this particular advertisement of Absolut Vodka, the target audience is young people in their mid twenties and thirties who are attracted by glamour and the artistic nature of this brand. The message in the advertisement itself is captivating “doing things differently leads to something exceptional” and is focused towards capturing the minds of those viewers who would like to try something different and daring.Thus the target audience has to be experimental in nature, and therefore the consumers targeted would be innovators and early adopters. The audience for this advertisement would also be social and would be urbanites with Message Design Formulating a commercial to achieve a desired response requires solving three problems •what to say - content/appeal •how to say - structure and format •who should say it - source The use of the three in the Absolut ‘Anthem’: Appeal: Advertising agencies use various appeals to promote the product.Appeal is a distinctive claim of advertising. It starts with identifying a reason for people to buy.
Advertising agencies then develop the advertising campaigns around that appeal. The appeal used in Absolut Vodka “Anthem” commercial is both
rational and emotional appeal with higher emphasis on emotional appeal. Emotional appeal leads to creating affection for the brand in the minds of the target audience. In this advertisement they use a positive statement “doing things differently leads to something exceptional” that highlights the philosophy of the Absolut brand.The bottle shape and design is a visual representation of this statement, and has been since launch.
It is representative of what Absolut vodka stands for and believes in. Structure: There a various ways in which a message structure is designed. It is up to the advertising agencies whether to use a single method or a mix of more than one or to use all of the methods in developing the structure. As far as the Absolut Vodka “Anthem” commercial is concerned they have used a mix of strategies to structure the message. Each strategy leads to or gives way to another strategy.In other words we can say that these strategies are interlinked.
In their commercial they have not left the message open-ended. They have drawn the conclusion. They have associated this statement “doing things differently leads to something exceptional” with the Absolut vodka brand and company. In other words they have tried to communicate that it is in Absolut vodka world that things are done differently in order to be unique and special. As the advertisement is conclusion based it presents a one sided argument that praises the product.
As it is one side presentation the strong statement (argument/ benefit/ association) is presented first. As a whole in this advertisement the advertisers have used a deductive (direct) logic approach where from a general statement “doing things differently
leads to something exceptional” a viewer is lead to specific conclusion or is able to deduce that in a Absolut vodka world things are done and Absolut vodka is the exceptional thing that is tasteless, colorless, odorless liquid and has unique bottle shape and design.Format: Absolut commissioned artists from around the world to bring their art pieces together to spell out the philosophy of Absolut World. The seven words in the Absolut philosophy statement are edited together in one video directed by Rupert Sanders.
Doing: The word ‘doing’ is created out of hand-crafted ice blocks, carefully arranged into monolithic letterforms on a pristine glacier. Things: The word ‘things’ is made by suspending over 2,000 clear Absolut bottles in serene forest readable only when directly beneath them.Differently: The word ‘differently’ is presented in a field of wheat, with teams painstakingly forming the crops into sculpture. This is also a representation of the Swedish farms where the wheat is harvested to make the vodka. Leads To: The words, ‘leads to’ are formed by crews holding paper lanterns to the ground in a remote canyon, and then releasing them into the night.
Something: The word ‘something’ gets revealed as groups of people coordinated throughout city rooftops raise huge helium-filled letter balloons.Exceptional: The word ‘exceptional’ is crafted in a stunning artistic representation of vodka distillation, with the liquid traveling through a mesmerizing glass journey. Music: The “Anthem” sound-track is a re-interpretation of the iconic song “Ceremony”, originally sung only once, live, by Joy Division and never recorded in the studio until the band reincarnated itself as New Order. For the “Anthem” spot, ABSOLUT wanted a unique version of the
song, modern but still performed with respect and love for the original recording.The assignment was commissioned to the experimental music collaboration “Fall on Your Sword”, known for their unmistakable flair and attention to detail. They embraced the challenge and came up with a recording that complements and enhances the content of the spot.
The version of “Ceremony” used in “Anthem” is currently not publicly available Source The source is the person used to deliver the message. The person may be a celebrity or a representation or someone unknown.In this case no particular source has been used and just a collection of individuals who deliver the company message together through the use of various objects. Positives •Strong visual appeal •Music was catchy and was highly appreciated by the audience Negatives •Has no direct relation to the product until the end of the commercial •The beginning could have been compressed to make the commercial shorter as the audience loses attention midway Recommendations •The commercial could’ve been shortened by spending less time showing the ‘making’ of each individual word.
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