Pernod Ricard Rises on Unique Marketing

A different approach in design and marketing in the past decades has catapulted Pernod Ricard to its current leading position in the world’s liquor market.

Back in the 1980s, most advertisements took a similar form as they were manufactured based on customers’ daily lives but the French liquor company decided not to join the mainstream to sell its products.

Pernod Ricard’s experimental advertising started with Absolut vodka, one of its core brands in 1979 when it advanced into the United States, the company said in a statement.

The vodka bottle didn’t carry the label that shows content in the liquor and other information and it contained only color-less vodka and carried only the copy “Absolut Perfection” on it, said the statement.

Such an innovative design drew a strong response among customers who wanted something different, allowing Pernod Ricard to continue with the drive for decades from then on.

“Inspire by a glass bottle which contained pharmaceuticals found at an antique shop in Stockholm, the owner of Havana Club rum, Martel cognac and Chivas Regal whiskey came up with the Absolut vodka bottle,” a company spokeswoman said.

The Absolute vodka bottle design was initially ignored by experts in the liquor business but the three values pushed by the company clarity, simplicity and...