How do you create a global conversation during the most important sales peak of the year, when virtually every competitor try its hardest to break through the clutter?

We created ABSOLUT UNIQUE - a limited edition of nearly 4m uniquely designed and individually numbered bottles.

This PR driven innovation tapped into the insight “Brand yourself to fit in. Customize to stand out”. We created mass produced individuality and we did not only give consumers a bottle that expressed their personal taste. We also provided a product with a built-in PR story that was easy to share. The process behind the product was just as fascinating as the product itself.

To make every bottle a one-of-a-kind work of art, we had to re-engineer the entire production process. It required a complex interaction of human and mechanical elements, and a carefully orchestrated randomness. Splash guns and colour-generating machines were set up and coating, pattern and placement algorithms were programmed in. 38 colours were used, and 51 patterns.

Documenting the process generated amazing PR assets, carefully portioned out to media and blogs and in social media.

The results were immediate. Within 24h, ABSOLUT had an all-time high consumer engagement on Facebook, and soon thereafter ABSOLUT UNIQUE had become a global topic, discussed in many of the greatest and most influential media in five continents. With a credible and broad reach, and an amazing 97% positive sentiment, PR single-handedly built a market demand beyond all expectation.

Everyone loved the concept. Making it happen was the hard part. To make every bottle a one-of-a-kind work of art, we re-engineered the entire bottle production process. It required a complex interaction of human and mechanical elements, and a carefully orchestrated randomness. Splash guns were set up and coating, pattern and placement algorithms were programmed in. 38 colours were used, and 51 patterns.

Documenting the process generated amazing PR-assets, carefully portioned out to media, blogs and social media influencers. Sketches were released during a teaser phase. Thereafter, the final design and making-of-videos were unveiled in top tier media with a global impact. They influenced thousands of additional stories and once the news spread, all assets were distributed to media in 80+ markets, to nurture create global burst.

In parallel to the media roll-out, social media followed the same schedule, with a build-up phase and a global bust on September 3.

The results after 10 days:

Awareness/Publicity:

• 18 out of 30 pre-defined tier one media covered the story, including Huffington Post, Ad Age, Fast Company, Hypebeast, PSFK, Trendhunter, Dieline and Nylon. They all featured the key visual and/or the making-of-video.

• 4,000+ digital media posts. Regional breakdown shows that ABSOLUT UNIQUE is a global topic.

• Sentiment is extremely positive (97%).

• ABSOLUT UNIQUE has generated twice as much buzz as ABSOLUT ROCK, and 5 times the buzz of ABSOLUT MODE

Behaviour:

• All-time high consumer engagement: 12,000+ likes and 2,400+ shares on Facebook in 24h.

• Viral effect on Twitter: 9,000,000+ reach

Business:

• It's too soon to present market share figures, but market demands are beyond all expectations. Jonas Tåhlin, VP Global Marketing, said to Contagious: “If we knew then what a success ABSOLUT UNIQUE has now become, we might have increased the number of produced bottles.”