Absolut - Shockingly Responsible
ROLE: CCO
After six years of declining share, Absolut Vodka was in a rough spot. To young drinkers the brand was just another party vodka. With little or no love for the brand, perceptions were hovering close to generic category negatives (“hard partying” etc).
of the fact that the most ‘sober’ generation in a long time didn’t romanticize binge or heavy drinking like past generations, we looked into their drinking behaviour.
We found that irresponsible drinking actually peaked around 21 years old; from that age onward, they progressively drank more responsibly. That’s when we realised that drinking responsibly was not just a disclaimer, but an aspiration.
And so the ‘Shockingly responsible platform’ was born. Absolut took the bold step to focus on purposeful social causes where irresponsible drinking was itself implicated in the issues at hand: domestic abuse, sexual violence, even decision making like voting.
It was bold because by calling out the ills of alcohol, it allowed Absolut to campaign credibly about “shocking” social causes that GenZ would care passionately about.
The effect on the brand was incredible. It’s KPI performance was outstanding amongst the target audience and significantly outperformed tactical campaigns of similar spend. Commercially, Absolut finally returned to volume growth after six years decline, outperforming other brands even during Covid.