Brand Building - The Absolut Way

Ashish K Tiwari, Mumbai

In a market situation where most liquor companies are holding music and dance nights to lure customers, Kyndal India is trying something different. The company, which represents the Absolut Vodka brand in India, recently invited Jan T H Toreheim, ambassador-Absolut Akademi and Jonny Palsson, Sweden's celebrity bartender to hold drinks-mixing sessions for food and beverage personnel and bartenders in Mumbai. Through these sessions, the company aims to educate people behind the bar to offer customers innovative drinks prepared in the 'Absolut' style.

Speaking to Express Hotelier & Caterer about this approach, Siddharth Banerji, director, Kyndal India Pvt Ltd, said, "Absolut Vodka is well-known across the globe for doing things differently. Be it advertising, packaging, or for that matter marketing and promoting the brand amongst its target market, Absolut does it in a very innovative manner. In its endeavour to create necessary awareness about various Absolut Vodka brands and also educate the food and beverage personnel and bartenders on the kind of drinks that can be mixed or created using these brands, Absolut Akademi was initiated by V&S Absolut Spirits, the manufacturers of Absolut Vodka.

"The Akademi holds such sessions across the globe at regular intervals. We had held similar sessions in New Delhi and are now extending them to another key market - Mumbai. These sessions will help those behind the bars to concoct something different to their elite customers."

The brand ambassador of Absolut Akademi, Jan Toreheim, started the session by his audio-visual presentation, taking the participants back in history to the year 1879, when the Swedish entrepreneur and legend, Lars Olsson Smith, also known as 'The Vodka King' introduced his masterpiece - Absolut Pure Vodka. "Absolut Vodka has an interesting story to narrate. Since its launch in 1879, more than 400 years of vodka-making tradition stands behind every bottle of Absolut. Every drop of Absolut Vodka is made using a revolutionary distilling method called continuous distillation, which is still in use today."

Toreheim added that though Absolut is sold in over 126 countries today, every bottle comes from 'One Source - Distillery' at Ahus in Southern Sweden. "Producing its vodka in one location using local raw materials gives us complete control of all stages of production and ensures that every drop meets our high quality standard and tastes the same in any part of the world."

Another interesting aspect about Absolut is the design of the vodka bottle. Toreheim said, "The Absolut bottle design is inspired by an eighteenth-century Swedish medicine bottle. Manufactured near Ahus distillery, the bottle is made with special low-iron sand to ensure crystal clear glass. Before they are filled, every bottle is rinsed with Absolut Vodka."

On Absolut Akademi, Toreheim opined, "To ensure that Absolut Vodka remains competitive for a long time to come, it has its own institute of higher learning where knowledge is used as a powerful sales tool. We have Jonny Palsson - a celebrity bartender from Sweden - who travels across the globe to interact with hoteliers, bartenders and media to educate them about the 'One Source' story of Absolut." Palsson has been in the bartending profession for over 25 years now and uses his expertise to conduct 'creative drinks mixing sessions' and innovating new ways of serving Absolut.

In all, the two sessions held in Mumbai witnessed participation from over 100 food and beverage personnel and bartenders from 19 hotels, fine dining restaurants and lounge bars including names like Renaissance Hotel & Convention Centre at Powai, Mainland China, Rain Bar, InterContinental Marine Drive, The Bowling Co, Zenzi, Not Just Jazz By The Bay, Hotel Diplomat, The Leela and JW Marriott Hotel amongst others.

The Absolut family consists of five types of vodkas: Absolut Peppar, Absolut Citron, Absolut Kurant, Absolut Mandrin and Absolut Vanilia.