Gen-Z, Millennial Digital Opps: Absolut Vodka ditches national TV ads as it ramps up digital spend (Score 61)
Pernod Ricard subsidiary Absolut Vodka has shaken - but not stirred - up its marketing strategy by shifting national TV ad dollars to digital display ads. It also recently made a few adjustments to its marketing team. Recent hires include: brand manager Anuj Chhabra (May 2020) from Diageo and brand marketing director Reshma Dhati (June 2020) from PepsiCo. Additionally, Pernod moved brand manager Jamie Rath from Martell Cognac & Avion Tequila to the same position with Absolut Vodka. These marketers will likely have an impact on the marketing strategy.
According to Adbeat, Absolut has spent ~$47.2k on digital display ads over the last 365 days. It placed 100% of these ads programmatically through Google DV360 and Google Display Network onto sites such as redrocksonline.com, liquor.com, atlantafalcons.com, packers.com and vikings.com. Note, as well, that $32k on that $47k (roughly 68%) has been spent in the last 90 days.
Per iSpot, the company has not aired a national TV ad so far this year. It spent about $40k in this channel in 2019, all in August during "NFL Football." Absolut has been drastically decreasing funds in this channel seeing as full-year spend equaled $8.7m in 2018.
Sellers-- Absolut mainly targets male sports enthusiasts, and considering the recent switch from TV ads to digital ads, it must be going after a slightly younger audience, most likely Gen-Z (21+) and millennials (keep in mind, too, that the pandemic likely necessitated this shift, at least partly). It also invests in local OOH and print ads, per Kantar. Sellers that can provide relevant ad space should get in contact with this company soon.
Agency & martech readers-- Pernod Ricard appointed Pam Forbus as CMO in June 2020 and, as far as we know, she has not made any changes to the agency roster - yet. Reach out soon to secure a place in any possible reviews that may occur in the following months, since we know CMO hires are the top indicator of impending reviews. You will face competition from Spark Foundry (media), 360i (creative, digital & social) and Legacy Marketing (experiential).
