More Than a Vodka:
an Absolut Icon
Creation of Absolut
Although many people think of Russia as the original home of vodka, Sweden has been producing vodka for over 500 years, blessed with both the ideal climate for growing wheat and fertile plains. Sweden also produced one of the leading figures in vodka’s development.
Pioneering Swedish entrepreneur Lars Olsson (L.O.) Smith introduced continuous distillation to Sweden and created the “Absolut Rent Brännvin” vodka brand in 1879.
Almost exactly a century later, another Lars – Lars Lindmark, the new CEO of Swedish Government-owned wine and spirit company Vin & Sprit – had an idea that would eventually grow into the global success that is Absolut Vodka.
The Danes and Norwegians exported aquavit, and the Finns had Finlandia Vodka. Sweden was missing out, so Lindmark’s idea was to create a new product expressly for export.
Studies showed that a colorless liquor would have the best prospects for success, so the decision was taken to start production of a new Swedish vodka.
Aimed primarily at the young, creative communities living in the big cities in the US, then the UK and eventually the wider world, Vin & Sprit’s new export vodka was to be a premium product, made from the very best wheat and pristine water.
L.O. Smith’s “Absolut Rent Brännvin”, which translates literally as ‘absolutely pure vodka’, provided the inspiration for the new brand’s name – Absolut.
A Revolutionary Bottle
The bottle was to play a key role in the brand’s marketing, so a brief was developed to create something outstanding.
But how do you stand out when your competitors are filling the shelves with tall bottles, with shiny red and gold labels? Gunnar Broman, from the agency Carlsson & Broman which had been commissioned to design the bottle, suggested a different approach: “If you want to be heard in a room full of people shouting, whisper”.
The design team’s quiet inspiration came in the shape of an 18th century apothecary bottle spotted in an antiques shop window in Stockholm’s old town, Gamla Stan.
Simplicity and style were key, as these reflected the brand’s Swedish heritage. The designers also wanted the clarity of the vodka to speak for itself, so instead of hiding the contents behind a traditional paper label, all the details were printed directly onto the glass – something that a spirit brand had never done.
Blue lettering was chosen because it represented the purity of water and an L.O. Smith medallion, acting as a tribute to the inspiration behind the brand, provided the finishing touch.
Revolutionary at the time, the Absolut bottle is one of the most recognizable and iconic shapes and silhouettes in the world today.
A Brand-new Category
With the name and bottle design agreed, Vin & Sprit started looking for a way to break into the US market. After speaking with the major US distributors, who seemed less than enthusiastic, they appointed a smaller company, Carillon Importers, to promote and sell the brand.
A tenacious Frenchman, Carillon’s Michel Roux became the brand’s Account Manager and – thanks to his ideas and drive for success – the original Absolut Brand Ambassador too.
First, Carillon conducted market research. The initial findings were far from positive. People weren’t sure where Sweden was. As for the bottle, its neck was too short for bartenders to pick up, and its clarity and lack of a paper label meant it got lost in the back bar.
Additionally, Absolut cost more. The price was set high to match its quality. Customers were used to paying more for aged spirits, but this was the first time anyone had come up with a proposition like Absolut.
Roux carried on regardless. Three years in the planning, Absolut was launched in New York City in 1979.
While other distributors did their deals in warehouses and boardrooms, Roux took a much more direct approach. He started by visiting NYC’s most prestigious bars, night clubs and restaurants – sometimes as many as 15 or 20 a night – telling bartenders and customers all about this new product and buying everyone drinks.
Roux had plenty to say. Absolut was the first brand to tell the story behind the vodka: how it was made, where it was from and the brand’s heritage. Other vodkas didn’t do this, while other spirits rarely communicated anything other than their age or added ingredients.
A firm believer in word-of-mouth marketing, Roux targeted the trendsetters and influencers of the day, knowing that if they adopted the brand others would follow. He also targeted leading businessmen and, realizing they travelled by air, arranged for flight attendants to hand out free samples of Absolut miniatures.
Roux was right. Six months after its launch, people started brand calling Absolut.
The premium vodka category was born!
ABSOLUT
MILESTONES
1977
The decision is taken to start production of a new premium Swedish vodka to launch onto the US market.
1978
Carillon and the Vin & Sprit Group sign a contract for the import and sale of Absolut in the United States.
1979
Absolut launches in New York City.
1981
First advertisement for Absolut appears in NY magazine – Absolut Perfection.
1985
The first art collaboration advertisement – Absolut Warhol.
1986
Absolut launches the first clear flavored vodka – Absolut Peppar.
1988
Absolut launches Absolut Citron.
1992
Absolut is inducted into the American Marketing Hall of Fame, shared only with two other brands – Coca Cola and Nike.
Mid-90s
Annual sales of Absolut reach over 5 million 9L cases.
2005
Absolut launches its first global limited-edition bottle – Absolut Second Skin.
2021
Absolut fills bottle number 3,000,000,000.
GROWTH DRIVEN
BY CREATIVITY
A key component of its DNA, creativity has helped to drive the brand’s growth and continuing success.
Absolut Advertising
With people showing an interest in the new Swedish vodka brand, Roux’s boss agreed to an advertising budget. Just as it had done with its revolutionary bottle, Absolut stood out from other drinks advertisements, most of which looked the same.
The first Absolut advert was created by agency TBWA in 1981. Launched in New York Magazine, Absolut Perfection was the beginning of one of the most successful ad campaigns of all time.
Making the bottle the hero and featuring the word Absolut, together with a short, witty second word, proved to be a magic combination. The ads became so iconic that just the bottle silhouette and two words were enough – the Absolut X formula.
At a time when it was illegal to broadcast liquor commercials on TV, the brand’s groundbreaking musical and snow globe print adverts, sent to all the important TV newsrooms, generated publicity for Absolut that money literally couldn’t buy.
As the brand started to grow, TBWA pioneered the development of a GLOCAL format for the ads, applying the same global concept but at a local level. This used the bottle silhouette to represent the different characters of cities, first in the US and then all around the world. Consumers became engaged in a new game of ‘find the bottle shape’.
Absolut ads ran from 1981 to 2005, making it one of the world’s longest uninterrupted advertising campaigns – some 2,000 ads in total, all based on the ‘Absolut X’ formula
Absolut Art
By 1985, sales of Absolut Vodka were on fire and its marketing was about to take another leap forward.
A famous quote from Michel Roux was: “Before you reach the wallet, you need to reach the heart”. Roux thought the best way to do that was through culture, since culture is usually tied to aspiration.
He had been working with underground artist and magazine owner Andy Warhol (who used Absolut Vodka as a perfume). Over dinner with Roux one night, Warhol asked to paint the Absolut bottle. Roux agreed and when he saw the now famous painting of the black bottle, he thought it would make a great advert.
Roux understood the concept of driving fame through celebrity and saw this as a way of engaging with who he called ‘society people’ – artists, the rich and famous influencers of the moment.
The brand’s first art collaboration ad – Absolut Warhol – was an immediate success. So much so that Warhol wanted to paint more. Roux declined, reminding him that “You always said everybody has to have their 15 minutes of fame; I gave you 20”. Instead, he asked Warhol to rally other artists to the project. Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf quickly took up the offer and the concept of Absolut Art was born!
Over 850 art collaborations followed, including the Absolut Originals series with European artists, securing the brand’s position in the art world and at the heart of popular culture. Launched in 1998, Absolut Originals was an 18-month long project involving 16 artists from different countries and cultures who presented works of art inspired by the Absolut bottle. The collection, which featured painting, sculpture, photography and architecture, was exhibited at the prestigious Louvre in Paris.
Absolut Fashion
Collaborating with artists was just the beginning of blending in culture as a natural and obvious ingredient in the brand’s DNA. This has always been and will always be the case for Absolut!
Roux wanted Absolut to be connected to all forms of culture in consumers’ minds, so in 1988, he commissioned fashion designer David Cameron to create an Absolut dress. Modelled by Rachel Williams, the brand’s introduction to the world of fashion led to thousands of people phoning in to buy ‘the dress from the ad’.
Three years later, another Absolut dress, worn by Candace Bushnell, bestselling author and creator of Sex & The City, caused a similar stir. The dress, designed by Anthony Ferrara, was made entirely of 18K gold and had a USD 530,000 price tag.
Other fashion collaborations during the ‘90s included: Absolut Ruiz de la Prada, a series of creations with the Absolut theme by Spanish fashion designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, presented during Fashion Week in Madrid; and Absolut Versace, with top models Naomi Campbell, Marcus Schenkenberg, Kate Moss and Mark Findlay modelling apparel created exclusively for Absolut by Gianni Versace. Shot on location at Sweden’s stunning Ice Hotel, the photographs from Absolut Versace were featured in an 8- page insert in Vogue magazine. Also featured in Vogue, Absolut Gucci was a one-of-a-kind collection designed by Gucci Creative Director Tom Ford.
Absolut Legends with Jean-Paul Gaultier kicked off the new millennium, followed by more recent fashion collaborations including Absolut clothsurgeon and Absolut Sacai, both launched in 2020.
Absolut clothsurgeon brings together the brand’s pioneering spirit and clothsurgeon’s values of innovation, quality and equality to create a limited-edition t-shirt. Made from organic, sustainable fabrics sourced from places across the world meaningful to clothsurgeon’s Creative Director Rav Matharu, the t-shirts literally weave cultures together, showing the beauty that comes from embracing differences.
Absolut Sacai is a collaboration with high fashion men’s and womenswear label Sacai, founded by Chitose Abe. Centered around advocating a reduce, reuse, recycle lifestyle, the limited-edition bottle set demonstrates that creativity needn’t be limited by the constraints of sustainability. Comprising a simply co-branded bottle design that can be refilled for any purpose, an accompanying reusable spray nozzle and silicon sleeve, the bottle set is presented in special recyclable paper packaging.
LGBTQIA+*
Fashion is all about self-expression, which is something Absolut has always felt strongly about, believing everyone should have the freedom to express their true selves. Absolut has been an active supporter of the LGBTQIA+ community since the early ‘80s when it started advertising in gay magazine The Advocate. This was at a time when it was hard to sell adverts in gay magazines, so the brand’s support was greatly appreciated.
In the ‘90s, Absolut ran its most ambitious art commission program to date, with all the funds raised going to DIFFA: Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS.
The program, Absolut Statehood, showcased one original artwork from a local artist in each of the 50 American states and the District of Columbia in national newspaper USA Today. A limited edition of 300 lithographs of each work, signed and numbered by the artist, were sold for USD 300 each, raising funds for the DIFFA foundation.
A decade later, Absolut collaborated with artist Gilbert Baker, one of the leading names in the modern LGBTQIA+ movement and designer of the original Pride** flag. Launched in 2008, dressed in the rainbow flag, the Absolut Colors limited-edition bottle design was both a celebration of the brand’s long-standing support for the LGBTQIA+ community and a promise to continue its support for equality.
Demonstrating exactly that, Absolut became a proud partner of the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras in 2018. The brand wanted to explore how it could do more to support Australia’s LGBTQIA+ community, so in 2020 it launched the Absolut Love Letters campaign, based on insights from the Make Love Louder report conducted by Dr Shirleene Robinson and Absolut.
According to the report, even though the majority of Australians support the LGBTQIA+ community, many are ‘silent supporters’. The campaign aimed to change that by providing a platform to spread the message of love and ‘Make Love Louder’.
Highlights included activities at hero venues, such as Absolut: House of Love at The Imperial, sales of 1,500 cases of Absolut Rainbow limited-edition stock over a four-week period and three charity cocktails that helped Absolut raise almost AUD 15,000 for various LGBTQIA+ charities in Sydney and Melbourne.
* LGBTQIA+ The acronym stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual. The “+” symbol stands for all the other sexualities, sexes and genders not included in the other letters.
** Designed by artist Gilbert Baker in 1978 as a symbol of pride for the gay community, the gay pride flag or rainbow flag now represents the extended LGBTQIA+ movement.
Absolut Bottle Designs
Given how significant a role it plays, it was only natural that the brand’s boundless creativity should spill over onto the iconic Absolut bottle.
Over the years, hundreds of different designs and expressions have been produced – all based on the original, revolutionary bottle of 1979 and all demonstrating the brand’s ceaseless creativity. A bottling line unlike any other!
Read more
Absolut Music
Nearly a decade after its first limited-edition bottle, Absolut began a series of creative collaborations with a new generation of musicians.
The first song to be inspired by an Absolut cocktail, Swedish House Mafia’s 2012 track Greyhound was also the starting point for a global campaign to combine music experiences with cocktails. As part of the initiative, people could share exclusive material from the DJ trio on Facebook and make their own remixes of songs by Swedish House Mafia and other artists. Absolut has also collaborated with electro-pop band Little Dragon and UK pop wonder Dan Black, continuing to tie drinks to songs.
In 2013, Absolut partnered with Swedish pop duo Icona Pop to launch Absolut Tune, a blend of crisp white wine and premium vodka.
More recent music video/product placement initiatives include: 2019’s 365 collaboration with Zedd, featuring Katy Perry; and 2020’s collaborations with Lizzo, for Absolut Juice and R&B sensation DaniLeigh, for a livestream performance in support of Black Lives Matter.
Bidding a farewell to one of the most challenging years in recent memory, Absolut joined forces with Beatport for a global New Year’s Eve livestream party lasting more than 20 hours across 15 time zones.
A seasoned festival-goer, Absolut continues to support America’s number one music festival, Coachella and Belgium’s Tomorrowland.
Collaborating In Real Life
One of the most talked-about campaigns of 2020, Absolut: It’s In Our Spirit celebrates the times when people get together and have meaningful conversations in person, in real life – CAN’T WAIT FOR TOGETHER #IRL
Reflecting the brand’s support of diversity and inclusivity, the global campaign features four talented changemakers from diverse backgrounds: American actress Tessa Thompson, British musician MNEK, online gaming star Ricki Ortiz and Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai.
