Positioning of Absolut Vodka

Absolut Positioning. This report will describe the notion of location, telling eyeshoting and its relation to segmentation. It will analyse the defineing of Absolut vodka in its commercialise place share. In this report the relevant office criteria will be identify and appropriate lay maps to support the analysis will be used. In addition, suggestions on how to improve and develop the Absoluts positioning will be given as well. In rig to apply the relevant pedantic theory to the positioning of Absolut Vodka place the definition and idea of positioning concept needs to be identified.Adcock, Halborg and Ross (2001) provide the positioning definition made by Ries and Trout that say that it is what happens in the promontory of nodes. Brassington and Pettitt (2003) write that positioning means persuasion about a product in the context of the competitory space it occupies in its food food market, defined in terms of attributes that matter to the target market. It is fe asible to state that positioning is the identification of position of certain brand and its add up image among different other brands in the minds of target audience.Positioning includes the evaluation of competitive advantages and brands niche. The main purpose ofpositioningis to achievesustainableview inthe minds ofconsumers about the brandas the best superstar in particular sphere. It is known that all offered services and products are f etc.ing their place with main goal to satisfy customers wants and needs. Consequently, in case with effective positioning goods and services have to promise the returns the customer will receive, create the expectation, and offer a solution to the customers problem, according to http//www. marketing91. com.Effective positioning needs to be funny and realistic, it has to be related to current position, should be long term and heretofore updated and improved during the condemnation period. Also, product needs to be in the mind of customers. A ccording to Wind (1980), there are six principles for product positioning. Firstly, positioning can be base on product one and exactly feature. Also, positioning may be related to products do good that may satisfy consumers wants and needs. Besides, positioning can be based according to usage and/or occasion. Additionally, products can be based on competitors and on product class.Another principle that confederacy can use to position product is to base it on user category. Segmentation In order to run business successfully it is essential to lowstand the concept of market segmentation. Backer (2003) argues that positioning is easy. Market segmentation is difficult. Positioning problems stem from paltry segmentation. come with needs to work only with segment that has been chosen. Absolut Facts (Appendix 1) oratory about Absolut Vodka, the first question that comes up is Why such frank drink has become so successful and popular? when Russian vodka was the about recognised pr oduct, occupying the whole niche in industry, when Absoluts bottleneck was alike short for barman to handle and the whole bottle caused the negative associations with pharmacy jars. The answer to the question is an excellent positioning strategies and advertising actions. Position Absolut throw itself as aid vodka that is not just an alcoholic drink, but lifestyle. It is shown as a beverage for the sophisticated and upper-end people it is for status buyers who are not open to snob appeal, but open to wit. Absolut targets people under 35, those who are ferociously hip.Absolut has created the conditions, when people are fake to pay premium price (price is 15% higher than most high-priced vodka brands) to join the bohemian coterie that appreciates the high quality vodka. Due to capacious positioning and advertising actions the brand itself is now associated with art, music and singers, luxurious clubs that even off the Absolut diction. Once marketers identify the position they would like to occupy in the market, they picture a unique marketing shamble that will support that position by reaching that target market and meeting its needs Bovee, Houston, Thill (1995).The combination of promotion, product, price and place will assist in the brands positioning in order to distinguish it from competitive companies. Marketing mix in case with Absolut Promotion is the business of communicating with customers The propagation one hundred. In order to promote the brand Absolut releases the limited bottle editions, creative ads etc. Product One of the famous brands features is bottles shape that is shown in creative, humorous and trendy manner. Also, there is much fear paid to Sweden culture, history and background of vodka.Additionally, there is no doubt that company emphasises on quality of Absolut using high technologies, sources and products in order to champion its status of super premium spirit. Price As it was mentioned, price is rattling high compared to other vodka manufacturers. However, Absolut is targeting the certain segment of people that are unbidden and ready to pay more for status drink. Place The Times 100 explains that place is concerned with various methods of transporting and storing goods, and then making them addressable for the customer. acquiring the right product to the right place at the right time involves the distribution system. According to www. absolut. com there are famous Ice forbid in London, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Tokyo under Absolut brand. This fact again supports the idea that Absolut is not a drink but lifestyle. Positioning map Once the positioning has been completed for all the relevant attributes, it is useful to be able to check the complete picture graphically, by creating a perceptual map of the market as Brassington and Pettitt (2003) explain. Using http//oliver. efri. hr/medmark/dokumenti/absolute_vodka. pdf and Mintels Vodka UK March 2009 report the positioning map for vodka brand s may be structured as following platinum vodka the price is higher than ? 40 for 70cl (Mintel) Super premium vodka is ? 25 or more for 70cl (Mintel) Premium ? 14. 94-? 24. 99 for 70cl (Mintel) Own-label ? 4. 82-? 21. 83 according to http//www. supermarketownbrandguide. co. uk Mintel provides the diagram (Appendix 2) that shows the UK market share of vodka, 2008. According to that, it is possible to state that Absolut competes with Smirnoff Red which in the UK is the brand leader the sophisticated one the establishment Adcock, Halborg, Ross (2001). Smirnoff is less expensive and til now quality (around ? 1 per bottle) and is famous because of its Russia-ness (however, it is known Smirnoff comes from Connecticut, USA). Suggestions For Absolut it is important to continue its increment researching its competitors and stick with its target market. Company has to be very sensitive to its customers command changes and actions of competitors (direct and potential) their profitabil ity, weaknesses and strengths. Absoult needs to understand and know competitors as much as it is possible. Company should not be surprised if it falls to stay ahead as Backer (2003) states. BibliographyAdcock, D, Halborg, A, Ross, C (2001). Marketing principles and practice. 4th ed. Essex Financial Times Management. p172-177. Backer, M (2003). The Marketing Book. 5th ed. Oxford Butterworth Heinemann. p106. Brassington, F, Pettitt, S (2003). Principles of Marketing. Essex Financial Times. p116-197. Courtland, B, Houston, M, Thill, J (1995). Marketing. 2nd ed. NY McGraw-Hill. p202 Kotler, P, G Armstrong, J Saunders and V Wong, 1999, Principles of Marketing, second European edition, (Upper Saddle River Prentice Hall) Wind, Y, 1980, leaving to Market new twists for some old tricks, Wharton Magazine, 4Absolut. (2012). Absolut Vodka. purchasable www. absolut. com. croak accessed sixteenth Apr 2012. Bhasin, H. (2010). Effective positioning. Available http//www. marketing91. com/effectiv e-positioning/. outlive accessed 15th Apr 2012. Oliver, E. (2010). Absolut Vodka. Available http//oliver. efri. hr/medmark/dokumenti/absolute_vodka. pdf. Last accessed 16th Apr 2012. Supermarket own brand guide. (2012). Spirits. Available http//www. supermarketownbrandguide. co. uk/search. php? SearchString=vodkaSearch. x=69Search. y=18scoreprice=0pricevalue=0. 0table=spirits. The Times 100 Wilson and Wilson Publishing Ltd. (2011). Marketing mix. Available http//businesscasestudies. co. uk/business-theory/marketing/marketing-mix-price-place-promotion-product. htmlixzz1s6QeVriC. Last accessed 15th Apr 2012. Mintel Vodka, UK, March (2009). Vodka can fashion last forever. Online Available at http//academic. mintel. com/sinatra/oxygen_academic/search_results/show/display/id=393884 Accessed April 2012. White Spirits and RTDs, UK, March (2011). Competitive Context. Online. Available at http//academic. mintel. om/sinatra/oxygen_academic/search_results/show/display/id=545336/display/id=5 69847 Accessed April 2012. Appendices 1. ABSOLUT VODKA, introduced in the US in 1979, is the fourth largest international premium spirit in the world and is available in more than 150 markets. ABSOLUT VODKA is the number two brand of premium vodka worldwide. (Source Impact International) Since its launch in 1979, ABSOLUT VODKA has achieved significant worldwide sales growth, from 10,000 nine-liter cases (90,000 liters) to 11. 0 million nine-liter cases in 2010 (99. 0 millions of liters).Every bottle of ABSOLUTVODKA is disclosed in Ahus, in southern Sweden. ABSOLUT VODKA is produced from winter wheat, a hardy wheat ingrain that gives ABSOLUT VODKA its smooth grain character. Every year approximately 80,000 tons are used to produce ABSOLUT VODKA. Over one kilo (two pounds) of grain is used for every one-liter bottle. ABSOLUT VODKA uses a unique process called continuous distillation, introduced in the nineteenth century by The Vodka King, Lars Olsson Smith. ABSOLUT VODKA is distill ed hundreds of times until all impurities have been removed 2.