Absolut’s new advertising/marketing campaign is called “In an Absolut World,” developed by TBWA/Chiat/Day. “Absolut World’s” PR launch in New York City spanned a week beginning May 14. The launch was a series of daily promotional giveaways (such as coffee and muffins one day, round-trip MetroCards, and rickshaw rides) that were intended to make “New York a better place to live for a week.” Consumers then spoke with street teams about their idea of what an “Absolut World” was all about. The New York campaign was a great way to interact with all types of consumers – and I recognize our colleagues at Ketchum for developing this PR component to find out what consumers believe constitutes an “Absolut World.”

TIP: For smaller businesses, guerrilla tactics like this (like any PR/media event) can be expensive and extremely labor intensive. A less expensive alternative may have been to bag the daily promotional gifts, and go at various times to bars/taverns/restaurants and speak with adults about their vision of an “Absolut World.” Ultimately you want to target specific product users and not all the opinions out “on the street” may matter if they’re not the ones potentially buying the product. If freebies were necessary to yield responses, why not use rebate coupons to also help bump sales?

The April 27, 2007, New York Times reported that “On Planet Absolut, for instance, men can get pregnant, the Curse of the Billy Goat is lifted from the hapless Chicago Cubs and the garish billboards in Times Square are replaced by masterpiece paintings. Lying leaders are exposed by their Pinocchio noses, protesters and the police wage street fights with feather pillows, nice Manhattan apartments cost $300 a month and it takes only one exercise lap in a pool for a fatty to become a hottie.”

Here’s a glimpse of a couple of the new print ads.

This new ad campaign is a major risk for Absolut. Their previous distinctive “bottle” spots ran for over 25 years. While two and a half decades might seem like a longtime, the ads were undeniably recognized instantly – and arguably the essence of the Absolut brand. When your ads don’t even need the name of your company (just an outline of the bottle) you’ve achieved unparalleled brand awareness.

Absolut uses no graphics, drawings, animated characters, etc. on the bottle – only text. Surprisingly the symbol of their brand emerged as the bottle’s outline – and the advertising kept the brand alive. Now they’ve decided to give up that unmistakable graphic for text and odd, juxtaposed images.

Anyone think it’s a smart move?