REMEMBER the slogan, "I've got a fever for the flavor of a Pringles"? Well now a best-selling brand of vodka wants to generate a fever for its own flavors.
A new campaign for Absolut.
Absolut vodka is introducing an elaborate and extensive campaign to promote its flavored varieties - now seven, with the introduction last month of peach - separate from the familiar, long-running campaign that pitches the original unflavored version. The flavors campaign, with a budget estimated at $15 million, exhorts drinkers in a whimsical way to "Find your flavor."
The campaign, in print and on the Absolut Web site (www .absolut.com), is aimed primarily at consumers ages 21 to 29 who are particular fans of flavored liquors and flavored vodkas specifically. The flavored varieties of Absolut - Apeach, Citron, Kurant, Mandrin, Peppar, Raspberri and Vanilia - made up about 12 percent, or 550,000 cases, of the estimated 4.6 million cases distributed in the United States last year.
Absolut is the No. 1 imported vodka and the No. 3 liquor brand over all, behind Bacardi rum and Smirnoff (domestic) vodka. But its growth has slowed in recent years in the face of the increasing popularity of other vodka brands.
For instance, of the 19 distilled spirits that made the 2004 "Hot Brands" list compiled by the industry publication Market Watch, 6 were vodkas that compete against Absolut: Belvedere, Grey Goose, Ketel One, Seagram's, Skyy and Svedka.
Also, other vodkas are borrowing pages from the Absolut playbook like using special ads and promotions to pursue the gay and lesbian market, a segment in which Absolut has long predominated.
Distilled spirits in flavors like lemon, apple, raspberry, mango and vanilla are a major ingredient in the rise of what is being called the cocktail culture. After a couple of decades of losing sales to beer and wine, liquor is in demand again as consumers from the legal drinking age into their 30's rediscover the appeal of dressing up for a night out and ordering from bartenders old-school favorites like martinis.
"We've seen the cocktail culture coming, we've seen it develop in bars, and this is an effort on our part to extend that to at-home occasions like parties and barbecues," said Tim Murphy, brand director for the Absolut portfolio at the Absolut Spirits Company in New York, a division of V&S Vin & Sprit of Sweden.
"The goal is 'owning' mixability," he added, "being the brand people turn to when they want cocktail ideas."
"We wouldn't say we're trying to 'youthify' the brand" with the flavors campaign, he said, "but the consumer for Absolut flavors is indeed younger, and we do want to speak directly to that consumer. And if it makes the overall brand appeal more to younger consumers, that's an added benefit."
The campaign suggests that each consumer has a flavor that corresponds to his personality, emotions and moods, which can be divined by taking a quiz on the Web site.
For instance, "Absolut Mandrin is all about juicy night life, people who like to go out, stay out late, dance at clubs," Mr. Murphy said, "and Absolut Citron is sun and surf, the laid-back beach culture."
The multiple-choice questions yield a personal flavor among the seven along with a "signature drink" like a Raspberri Burst (two parts Absolut Raspberri, one part cranberry juice, one part pineapple juice, ice and a pineapple spear) or an Apeach Surrender (one part Absolut Apeach, two parts orange juice, one part grenadine, ice and a cherry).
While Absolut had tried flavor campaigns before, including one last year carrying the theme "Flavor the summer," the "Find your flavor" ads represent a "bold step in how we portray our flavor portfolio," said Neal Davies, the worldwide account director for Absolut at TBWA/Chiat/Day in New York, part of the TBWA Worldwide unit of the Omnicom Group.
This campaign "is on a bigger scale, across the different products and their individual personalities," Mr. Davies said, adding: "In the past, we've portrayed the flavors as one being a more lemony flavor or one being a more citrus-y flavor. This allows us to talk about one flavor in one ad, but at the same time present the idea that there are other choices out there."
Another major element of the campaign is a series of more than 160 symbols intended to help simplify the process of creating cocktails, a concept that grew out of research the agency conducted in developing the campaign, Mr. Davies said.
"Bartenders told us that customers are more and more 'empowered' when it comes to ordering, but they find the choice is so overwhelming," Mr. Davies said. Many customers say things like "I don't know what to have" or "I don't know where to start."
The symbols are color-coded and cover the Absolut flavors; mixers like juices, sodas and syrups; fruits and garnishes; tools to use like shakers, blenders and strainers; and types of glasses from shot to beer mugs. They will appear, equation style, on recipe cards and in ads in local magazines in markets like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.
"It's a cocktail language for a cocktail culture," said Patrick O'Neill, the former group creative director on the Absolut account at TBWA/Chiat/Day, who developed the campaign before he recently left the agency.
"The iconography of Absolut, the shape of the bottle, has become famous," Mr. O'Neill said, referring to the campaign for the original variety that has run for more than two decades. "We want to create a similar visual language that anyone could understand to make it easier to mix cocktails."
" 'Find your flavor' is all about an invitation," he added, "and we found a trend that once you try a flavor and like it, you become loyal to it."
Absolut is likely to spend $55 million this year on advertising in major media, compared with about $40 million last year, reflecting the increased attention the flavors are receiving in the new campaign. A separate campaign that began last month for Absolut Apeach, including television commercials, is to continue through the summer.
In addition to TBWA/Chiat/Day, other agencies are contributing to the flavors campaign. Tequila, a TBWA division, and Springtime in Stockholm are working on the interactive elements. G2, part of the Grey Global Group division of the WPP Group, is handling assignments like signs in stores. And the media buying is being handled by OMD Digital and OMD, also owned by Omnicom.