Abstract
Much of Absolut's success can be attributed to chief executive Roux's marketing astuteness as he defied conditional marketing research data and transformed the adversarial environment into an opportunity. Similarly, what was an odd shaped bottle became Absolut's distinctive appeal and uniqueness.
Mr. Roux had the background, first-hand experience, determination, and suave salesmanship from his educational training and restaurant business which also contributed to the campaign's success through his input. While the market for brown liquor decreased between 1975 and 1986 by 35.65% and the overall Vodka market grew by 9.2%, Absolut enjoyed a phenomenal growth of 22% per year during the decade.
As the market trends changed, he adopted strategies to give Absolut an edge over its competition by listening to his sales representatives and incorporating ideas and marketing to adapt to these changes. He had an astute ability to engage trend-setters of the world by targeting these groups through magazines, concerts, etc. and then they would advertise the product for him. Furthermore, he tripled the advertising budget in 1988 compared to the previous year to become a trendsetter himself.
However, it would be important to highlight that Absolut was able to make bigger than expected inroads when Stolichnaya, the current bestseller, was boycotted due to political sentiments.
