The Absolut story began in the small town of Ahus, Sweden. It might have ended there as well, if not for the brilliant and creative marketing campaign that saw this once obscure vodka skyrocket to become one of the world's top selling spirits and one of the most recognizable icons of the 20th century. For 20 years and counting, Absolut has forged such a unique and intriguing image that its ads are coveted, torn from magazines, hung on walls, and even traded among other Absolut enthusiasts. In that short span, and without the benefit of television ads, Absolut has captured our collective imagination and risen to the level of a cultural icon.
In the 1970's, American consumers accounted for 60% of the vodka purchased worldwide. However, 99% of the vodka con-sumed in the United States was being produced inexpensively by American distillers, the prevailing opinion being that all vodkas were alike and that the cheaper the vodka, the better.
At this same time, Absolut's financial struggles made the company realize that the key for the distillery's survival lay in exporting its product to the United States. But if Absolut was to face the challenge of breaking into the American market, it would have to create an image that set it apart from the cheaper American vodkas, and justified its higher price tag... essentially creating a luxury market for a product that was viewed in America primarily as a commodity.
The company saw American consumers as being continually assaulted with superiority claims, which had eventually grown boring and unpersuasive to the American audience. What Absolut needed was a way to show that it was the best vodka available, without actually saying that it was the best vodka available.
After creating Absolut's distinctive packaging, a squat bottle with a short neck, round shoulders, and a label that was printed directly on the bottle glass, in 1981, the company settled on their first (and quite possibly, their last) ad campaign. They created an ad featuring a bottle of Absolut, photographed with a halo over it. The caption: "Absolut Perfection."
With those two words, Absolut launched one of the most effective ad campaigns of the 20th century. The company had asserted its superiority, but had diffused the pompousness of the claim with a simple touch of humor. The concept was conceived and an entire generation of ads was born. Each featuring a simple, yet stunning image of the Absolut Vodka bottle uniquely posed or draped with accessories, each extolling the virtues of the product in increasingly creative ways, and each infused with just enough humor to disarm their grandiose claims of excellence.
Since the early days of the campaign, Absolut ads have evolved dramatically. The trademark Absolut bottle may now be seen fashioned out of Christmas lights, or pictured as the 19th hole of a golf course. Each state has its own Absolut ad, as do most major cities. Even artists such as Andy Warhol and Al Hirschfeld have designed ads featuring the now famous bottle. And a hand-signed and numbered lithograph of artist Yrjo Edelmann's "Absolut Citron" now sells for $500.
When the Absolut ad campaign began in 1981, the company was selling 20,000 cases annually in the U.S. In 1995, sales topped 3 million cases, an increase of 14,900%.
