A different approach in design and marketing in the past decades has catapulted Pernod Ricard to its current leading position in the world’s liquor market

2013-10-30 16:44

Pernod Ricard rises on unique marketing

By Choi Kyong-ae

A different approach in design and marketing in the past decades has catapulted Pernod Ricard to its current leading position in the world’s liquor market.
Back in the 1980s, most advertisements took a similar form as they were manufactured based on customers’ daily lives but the French liquor company decided not to join the mainstream to sell its products.Pernod Ricard’s experimental advertising started with Absolut vodka, one of its core brands in 1979 when it advanced into the United States, the company said in a statement.
The vodka bottle didn’t carry the label that shows content in the liquor and other information and it contained only color-less vodka and carried only the copy “Absolut Perfection” on it, said the statement.
Such an innovative design drew a strong response among customers who wanted something different, allowing Pernod Ricard to continue with the drive for decades from then on.
“Inspire by a glass bottle which contained pharmaceuticals found at an antique shop in Stockholm, the owner of Havana Club rum, Martel cognac and Chivas Regal whiskey came up with the Absolut vodka bottle,” a company spokeswoman said.
The Absolute vodka bottle design was initially ignored by experts in the liquor business but the three values pushed by the company ㅡ clarity, simplicity and perfection ㅡ were accepted by customers. It became a role model of vodka bottles and one of the 10 most famous advertisements in the 20th century.
In addition to the original design, Pernod Ricard has added creativity to the Absolut products in a move to meet a rapidly changing customers’ appetite and to better compete with rivals amid a slowdown in the overall liquor market.
The world’s second-largest liquor company by sales after Diageo posted double-digit sales growth in emerging markets despite a sluggish global trend in the last six months.
Vodka sales in Korea jumped 69 percent in 2012 to 1.37 million boxes, compared to a growth of 41 percent a year earlier. Absolut vodka sales also climbed 69 percent last year to 947,305 boxes, slowing from the previous year’s 80 percent sales growth, according to Pernod Ricard Korea. One box contains 9 liter-bottles of vodka.
To boost sales, the company used a marketing strategy which introduced a series of limited vodka editions to reflect trends and customer demand. And it worked.
For instance, customers were drawn to the 4 million bottles of Absolut Unique’ released last year and Absolut No Label’ that didn’t carry even a label unveiled in the spring of 2010, said the statement.