Absolut Vodka History

In the late 1910s, the government of Sweden realized that it needed to take steps to monitor the country's liquor trade. This realization came in the wake of the prevailing trend of excessive alcohol consumption in the society (consumption of aquavit and brandy was increasing alarmingly). The government primarily wanted to combat the social ills caused by alcoholism.

Moreover, it wanted to channelise the revenues generated from alcohol sales towards social activities. In October 1917, the government established AB Vin & Spritcentralen (V&S) to help monitor the country's liquor trade.
Many small and medium businesses owned by private wine merchants were closed down after they were bought by V&S.
Some larger and well renowned businesses were merged with V&S and continued to operate as its subsidiaries. The government also introduced an 'alcohol ration system,' under which every citizen above the age of 20 was given an 'alcohol ration book.'

People were given a fixed quantity of alcohol per month on presenting their alcohol ration book at retail and wholesale alcohol stores. However, alcoholism continued to increase in Sweden and reached epidemic proportions by 1919...

'Absolut Preparation' - The Making of the VodkaAs mentioned earlier, V&S began toying with the idea of selling Swedish vodka in US in early 1978. This was a result of the findings of the research it conducted regarding worldwide liquor consumption trends.

The research revealed that the consumption of brown liquor (like wine, whisky, beer) was falling across the world, while consumption of white liquor (like vodka) was rising. More importantly, the consumption of vodka was being seen as fashionable in the US in this period.

While traditionally, older men comprised the core customer segment for vodka, now women and younger people belonging to the affluent classes were consuming vodka.
Thus, companies from different parts of the globe rushed in to sell vodka in the country. The Russian vodka brand 'Smirnoff' was already very popular in the US...

'Absolut Adventure' - Making of a LegendIn early 1979, Absolut vodka was launched in the US at the liquor trade convention held at Fairmont Hotel in New Orleans. Initially, Carillon concentrated the marketing efforts in and around New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston because these were the places where new trends were created, media attention was intense and the bar culture prevailed...

'Absolut Continuity' - The Brand Marches Strongly AheadBy 2000, Absolut advertisements were recognized the world over for their stylish, humorous, and innovative attributes. As people began collecting the ads, analysts observed that the brand had become an advertising phenomenon.
More importantly, sales of Absolut were increasing rapidly over the years (Refer Exhibit VI for sales from 1979-2002). In 2000, V&S reportedly sold 7.3 million cases world wide, an increase of 2.5 million cases since 1995...

Source: www.icmrindia.org