Absolut City Series
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Translation of Trends to Innovation Platforms
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Rapid Concept Prototyping and Design
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Concept Optimization with Customers
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Strategic Future Pipeline Building
The challenge
With Citron, Absolut was the first major brand to offer a flavored vodka. As others followed, the category became a sea of me-toos and Absolut needed a new flavor strategy to continue to stand out as leader.
Our approach
In order to be truly Absolut, the team needed to take inspiration from unexpected places. So, we explored the brand’s history of celebration and collaboration and landed in a creative territory that resembled the iconic city series ads. This would allow for both unique bottles and flavors that celebrated the places they honored in creative ways.
The Result
The idea made a huge splash when it launched with Absolut New Orleans (mango and cayenne pepper), which raised over $1 million for Hurricane Katrina relief. From there, this platform proved to be a flexible and reliable means for the brand to deliver limited-editions and test new flavors (eg: Absolut Boston became Absolut Wild Tea, Absolut Brooklyn became Absolut Spiced Äpple, etc.). Constant iterations of the idea took it to cities around the world. In its latest incarnation, it has become another means for the brand to collaborate with artists, even going fictional locations, such as Absolut Oz, in collaboration with director Baz Luhrmann.