Absolutly Absolut

Anybody who wants to understand advertising can hardly ignore this advertising history - Absolut Vodka. Generally vodka is beleived to be a Russian (or Ukrainian?) brand. And Absolut being a Swedish Govt. product had to break the convention. There was nothing much to talk about the product. Vodka, being a colorless liquid was packaged in odd-looking medicine bottles and the company wanted to highlight the absolute purity of the brand. The company also had the origins clearly printed on the bottle. The ad agency, TBWA coined a simple two-word formula, "Absolut Perfection" in 1981. The ad also depicted the bottle being shown against a halo. This ad was followed by similar such ads which clebrated the bottle as the hero and with just two words. The rest is advertising history.

The campaign has been running successfully since 1981 even today. More than 1500 print ads have been released. These ads have caught the imagination of hobbyists the world over. Several sites, like ebay, sell these ads. The Absolut campaign is so successful that many artists have featured the Absolut bottle in their ads. For instance Andy Warhol the renowned painter and David Cameron, the fashion photographer. in the Absolut Cameron ad, the model becomes the bottle with the label being transformed on to her dress.

The company sources water from one well, grain from one field and production from only one plant in Sweden even till today. Every year during winter, it creates an Ice Hotel featuring an Absoult bar and invites guests. It also conducts premier exhibitions of the work that features the Absolut bottle. In the US, Absolut Vodka is the No. 1 imported vodka in the premium category and No.1 in the world. This is a perfect example of sheer advertising success.

Have a look at the ads. The hero of each copy is the bottle and the magic created by just two words.