Marketing Communication Based on Video - Research Paper Example

?Marketing communication 0 Brief Company Overview As of August 22, the Bloomberg Business week website d that The Absolut Spirits Company, Inc., headquartered in New York was founded in 2001 and functions as an importer and distributor for vodka and gin in the United States. The Absolut Spirits Company is a subsidiary of V&S Vin & Sprit AB which is based in Northern Europe. Interestingly, previous to 2008, V&S Vin & Sprit AB was a part of V&S Group which belonged to the government of Sweden. At present, Absolut is a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard Holding Company. 1.1 Nature of the business Absolut is a business entity which was originated as a brain child of Lars Olsson Smith, the king of Vodka. The Absolut organization exists to provide the best quality vodka in the world. Today it is one of the leading brands of Vodka. The originators suggest that the main ingredient required to produce Absolut is a grain grown in Ahus, in Southern Sweden. The producers have coined a “one source concept”. It is this one source concept that the manufacturers believe causes Absolut vodka to be absolute. The Absolut website states that it is made of only natural ingredients, namely, winter wheat and water. Absolut is viewed as a perfect unit in that its bottle, its taste and its price combine to form one package. Over the years Absolut has added many flavors to its original and premium product. Flavors include Peppar, Citron, Mandarin, Rasberri, Vanilla, Kurant and Pears. Absolut on their website proposes that their Mandarin and Orange are two of the most popular flavors in the world. 1.2 The brand’s origins and its background The brand Absolut was established since 1889 when Lars Olsson Smith registered the brand name and began to revolutionize the manner in which vodka was made. By 1979, it was imperative for Absolut to begin to export to countries around the world in order to survive. The genesis for Absolut was the idea of the legendary Lars Olsson Smith who revolutionized the manner in which distillation was done. He created the rectification method of distillation and to this day producers of alcoholic beverages still use this method. For Smith, rectification allowed all the impurities involved in the production of vodka to be removed. Thus, Smith called the product of his rectification Absolut rent branvin which means “Absolute pure vodka” in Swedish. For this reason, Lars Olsson Smith is known as the King of Vodka. In 1992, Absolut advertising campaign was inducted into the American Marketing Association’s Marketing Hall of Fame. Amazingly, this feat was won without the use of television as an advertising medium. Richard Lewis (1996) the mastermind behind Absolut’s advertising campaign claims that the major purpose of the campaign was “to build a healthy and enduring brand for Absolut.” Throughout the first hundred years of its existence Absolut was perfected in its taste, its texture and its packaging. 1.3 The brand’s popularity Although Absolut in its website views itself as the number one selling vodka in the United States, other sources such as Impact International believe that in 2010 Absolut was the fourth largest “international premium spirit in the world. Impact International noted that Absolut is available in 126 markets. Lewis (1996) notes that in 1981 at the beginning of the Absolut advertising campaign, 20,000 cases of vodka were sold to the United States each year by 1995; sales had reached to 3 million cases per year. Sarah Edmunds of Reuters in her interview with Bengt Baron posits, “In the United States … Absolut has about 10-1/2 to 11 percent of the total vodka market, sales rose to 4.9 million nine-litre cases in 2006, up from 4.7 million in 2005. Also at this interview Baron observed that Absolut has “98 percent brand awareness in the (U.S.) consumer (market) and we're still growing faster than the market in general”. Nonetheless, Absolut still advertises itself on its website as the leading brand of vodka in the world. A positioning- perceptual map is an indication of consumers’ perception of where Absolut is located on the market this particular map has been conceptualized using two main attributes namely, taste and price. The positioning- perceptual map therefore is seen below: Great Taste Absolut Low Price High Price Poor Taste 1.4 Key milestone about the brand Thus far, the key milestone for Absolut is its magnificent advertising campaign. In 1992, Absolut advertising campaign won the American Marketing Association’s Marketing Hall of Fame. Amazingly, they did not use television as an advertising medium. What was the real purpose of the campaign- Lewis (1996) insists that it was “to build a healthy and enduring brand for Absolut.” Lewis claims that Absolut’s advertising campaign involves art, fashion, cities, spectaculars, Hollywood and more. Thus, Absolut’s target market is the young and the successful therefore once remains au courant with the young they will never cease to have a ready market. 2.0 Competitors analysis Two specific competitors who compete directly with Absolut are Bacardi and Smirnoff. Competitor List of Products Strengths Weaknesses Bacardi Light rum, spirits and beers Bacardi is a strong brand. It is universally appealing and accepted. It is a versatile drink. Their advertising strategies are inferior to both Absolut and Smirnoff. Particularly, their online advertising needs urgent reorganizing. Smirnoff Premium and flavored vodka, malt beverages The taste of Smirnoff has been given heads up by the consumers in 2005. In addition, Smirnoff uses popular culture to market its product thereby ensuring that its target market young people are always on board. It is a fairly new product on the international market for it has only been exported to the U.S.A. for the past 30 years. Consumer analysis of Absolute target customers 3.0 Consumer Objectives In the context of Absolut’s competition their major objectives for the campaign include: Quantifiable Objective: to increase the number of cases of vodka sold both inside and outside the U.S. market thereby increasing the market share by at least 25% Behavioral Objective: to utilize popular cultural practices like the Happy Hour at ATM machines and online discussions in order to improve product awareness by at least 40 million individuals Perceptual/ Attitudinal Objective: to motivate 40 million young people to believe that as they drink Absolut they will be considered urbane and wise 5.0 The campaign selling idea The idea which propelled the Absolute world campaign was one which embodied the infusion of dreams of the young into their daily activities. 6.0 The IMC Tools Absolut presented the Absolut World campaign through the utilization of the Internet, the television, radio and newspaper media in order to facilitate the campaign. In particular, Absolut targeted the young and the young at heart. They used popular culture to persuade the masses to purchase Absolut. 6.1 The Internet The use of the internet to launch the Absolut World campaign was ingenious. The producers utilized the dreams of consumers in order to bring the idea of an absolute world (which was synonymous with perfect) into the presence of the audience. A plethora of online articles were written about the Absolute world campaign. The managers utilized the idea of dreams becoming a reality to enhance product awareness and increase market shares. The dreams comprise firstly, pillow fighting in the street –who would not want to be submerged in a pillow fight on the streets. In the pillow fight the customers were able to understand that the freedom and enjoyment that is experienced in a massive pillow fight is the same freedom and exhilaration that one can experience when one drinks Absolut. Thus, the campaign through the use of the Internet and other media allowed the drinkers of Absolut to believe that they could live their dream in the bottle of an Absolut. Other dreams represented by the campaign, “In an Absolut World” involved free newspapers; free taxi ride and even free money. Absolut manifested these dreams not only through the use of online articles, YouTube, Face book and other social networking sites but ultimately through the effective and ingenious organization of the Company’s website. Consequently, through the various advertisement strategies, that is the free newspapers, taxis and money, the customers were directed to the website where product history, product description and essentially the home of Absolut was superbly displayed. In this way Absolut was able to improve their brand awareness and ultimately promote brand loyalty. 6.2 The television Major television stations such as MTV, VIVA and other stations were utilized to cover the various activities which were used in the campaign. Therefore, the happy hour at the ATM as well as the taxi rides and newspapers giveaways were highlighted on popular television stations. Although the television viewers may have been similar to the Internet users it is possible that they may have been different in that an older age group may watch television. 6.3 Radio The idea of an Absolute world was also broadcasted through Radio programs which involved interviews and discussions about “In an Absolut World” campaign. Therefore, potential customers were privy to the newspapers giveaway, the Taxis thrill, and the ATM Happy Hour via the radio. In this way customers who may not immediately have access to the internet or the television while driving or at work may have the radio readily available. As a result Absolut could reach radio listeners who are generally in the older age bracket. They could reach the very young college students who are internet surfers and the television watchers age group. The use of these various mediums in order to market their products reiterates Absolut’s marketing strategy to interface with people’s lifestyle, rather than a particular age or income. William Perreault (2003) suggests that Absolut uses psychographic segmentation as opposed to a demographic segmentation. This means that Absolut targets a market based not on age or gender but on the lifestyle, beliefs and values of their customers. Thus, the various media allow Absolut to Absolut gained access to 44 million possible customers. 6.4 The newspaper In an Absolut world, dreams become a reality therefore free newspapers would fall into the category of dreams. 120,000 copies of newspapers entitled “In an Absolut World” were published. These newspapers were free of negativity and filled with only positive information and more importantly they were given free to the possible customers. Immediately, Absolut was able to increase its potential clientele by 120,000. 6.5 Taxi rides Taxis were painted white with “In an Absolut World” written across both the left and right door panels. In addition, the web address of Absolut vodka, www.absolut.com was printed across the rear of the taxi. A fleet of these taxis offered excitement for 1200 passengers and several pedestrians through the fast ride, the fun ride and most notably, the free ride. 6.6 Happy hours at ATM machines Happy Hours are another example of a dream that became a reality for several potential customers. At ATM machines customers won free money at the cash registers. In total, 12,000 Euros were given away. Perhaps this was the most innovative idea in which the campaign managers were able to bring excitement to its target market. Again, this idea reinforces the fact that Absolut caters for all age groups. Free money brings excitement to all age groups and was accessible to all. 7 Reflective Statement about the campaign success factors The “In an Absolut World” campaign was indeed a success. Not only were the producers able to reach the vodka drinkers but also those who are non drinkers. In this way the producers were able to increase their product awareness by obtaining contacts for 44 million new potential customers. The dynamically exciting and creative approaches they utilized to reach their customers allowed them to expand their market share. Not only were their ideas of Happy Hour and free newspapers and taxi rides absolutely exciting but it was their luminous use of individual media as well as their systematic combinations of the various mediums available. Every possible medium was utilized for this campaign. The fun and excitement generated through the use of these varied IMC tools inspired the customer to believe that drinking Absolut would also bring fun and excitement to one’s life. In addition, the general public gained a greater awareness of the product. Those who drank vodka as well as those who were not vodka drinkers were able to benefit from this campaign. Thus, this campaign satisfied the need for excitement of a wide range of individuals. The effort that was put into this campaign was definitely profitable in both the short run and in the long run because ultimately 44 million possible customers were satisfied with each innovative action that was part of his campaign. References Bicardi, accessed August 19, 2011, http://www.bacardi.com/ Hastings, Gerard, They will Drink Bucket Loads of the Stuff, accessed August 19, 2011, http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmhealth/memo/alcohol/al81memo.pdf In an Absolute World, accessed August 18, 2011, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYRLqqvER38&feature=player_embedded Lewis, Richard, Absolut Book: The Absolut Vodka Advertising. Perreault, William, Essentials of Marketing, New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2003 “V&S Vin & Spirit AB,” Bloomberg Business week, accessed August 22, 2011, http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=4455528 “The Absolut Spirits Company, LLC,” Bloomberg Business week, accessed August 22, 2011, http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=8083568 Read More