Absolut Vodka: creating advertising history. The Absolut advertising campaign wa
ID: 386943 • Letter: A
Question
Absolut Vodka: creating advertising history. The Absolut advertising campaign was often regarded by advertising experts as one of the most brilliant, innovative, successful and long-running campaigns ever. The several prestigious awards that the campaign has won since its first ad was launched stand Advertising experts felt that even 25 years after its launch, the Absolut advertising campaign was still going strong, innovatively, without changing the central theme. Even while creating music for Absolut Three Tracks, the bottle was used as the central theme. Aril Brikha, one of the artists who created a music track for Absolut Three Track said, ‘I had scanned the shape into a computer program that turns a picture into a tone—a futuristic way of including a picture without letting the listener know. I find it quite similar to previous Absolut projects where the bottle has been hidden in a picture.’ Industry observers as well as customers agreed on one issue: whatever the mode of expression—be it art, photography, technology, fashion or music—Absolut had until now stood for ‘brilliance in advertising’. Said an analyst, ‘We are surprised each year by the creativity and innovation of the brand. It is successful because it is contemporary. There is no end to the campaign.’ Questions: Discuss the role advertising plays in increasing brand awareness and brand loyalty among consumers, especially for products that have very subtle differentiable attributes. In the above context, examine the impact Absolut advertisements had on its target audience. Do you think the advertisements fulfilled their purpose? The Absolut advertising campaign is successful because it is contemporary.’ How did TBWA maintain the ‘freshness’ of the Absolut campaign? Discuss with respect to the brand’s association with different media: art, fashion, technology and music. Even though Absolut ads have been depicted in different media, the central theme of the campaign has remained unchanged (the bottle and the two-word slogan) over the years. In light of the above statement, do you think that the campaign will manage to hold sway or lose in impact in the near future?
Explanation / Answer
The creativity plays an important role when the basic product remains the same over years and has little scope of changes, or where the changes are not required at all. In such cases, it is essential to connect with the audience by evolving the advertisement with the changing aspirations, attitudes and beliefs of the atrget audience. The secret of Absolut's success is the use of creativity in making its campaigns more appealing and connecting to the audience, through media like contemporary art, fashion, music and events, and maintaining resonance with the customers.
With the same level of creativity, the campaign will be able to sustain its hold over the market through its strong connect with customers. However, the creative changes and experiments are expected to be more frequent with rapidly changing customer profile over the years to come.