Absolut Vodka, an iconic brand to many, was in a rough spot at the end of 2019.

While the US vodka market had been growing at an average of 1.4% per annum, Absolut Vodka had been experiencing consecutive year-on-year volume declines of 4%-5% for each of the past 6 years.

Over that time, it had fallen from #2 to #5 player in the market.

In the three years 2017-2019, all of the major vodka brands had been upping their advertising spend significantly with 73% of that on TV advertising.

Over that same period, Absolut had reduced year-on-year advertising spend and was spending 40% less than the market leader.

In addition to this, it hadn’t run a single TV commercial in over 3 years.

The writing was on the wall: in a fiercely competitive category, stem the decline and turn Absolut’s fortunes around, all without an increase in media spend.

We created “Shockingly Responsible”: a new brand platform to turn “Drink Responsibly” from a disclaimer to an aspiration for a better world.

Two such provocations were #SexResponsibility and #VoteResponsibly.

#SexResponsibly

In a first of the spirits industry, we started a Valentine’s Day conversation about drinking and consent in safe, healthy sex - an issue often clouded by the abuse of alcohol.

Encouraging people to obtain crystal-clear consent, we reminded them that “Only A Yes to Sex is a Yes.”

#VoteResponsibly

With a chequered history in either voter bribery, or voter suppression, alcohol had long been implicated in undermining free and fair US elections for hundreds of years.

With young people expressing “unprecedented interest” in having their voices heard in the 2020 Presidential Elections, we encouraged every American to vote, and vote clear-minded.

We launched “Drink Responsibly. #Vote Responsibly” in October 2020, it asked the nation to “vote first, drink second”.