overview

Absolut Vodka, one of the world's leading liquor producers, has long had a reputation for creativity in conjunction with their market branding. Ever since Andy Warhol created a rendition of the Absolut bottle, Absolut Vodka has enjoyed a close association with art and creativity that is unparalleled.

client value proposition

In line with a strong association with creative ventures, Absolut was looking to extend this association with a truly ground-breaking Web application that would combine several cutting-edge technologies to create Absolut Director—a web site that allows a user to create their own movie, including custom scripts and dialogs.

implementation

Pillar Applications Group, in conjunction with Submarine, Inc., Zendo Studios, and Zowie Digital Media created a specialized Internet Wave Server that creates a sound file generated from a Text-to-Speech engine (courtesy of Lucent Technologies).

A server package was written, using Active Server Pages, to supply the client-side Shockwave application with the information it needs to maximize the user experience, and to facilitate communication between the Shockwave application and the Internet Wave Server.

Designed and implemented hardware architecture (with Hostcentric) to handle estimated Sessions.

user benefits

The uniqueness of Absolut Director almost defines the term "sticky content"—users can make movies, send them to friends, and edit their friend's movies, resulting in considerable drawback for the site. The use of the Text-to-Speech engine to render user-created dialog helps to create a unique experience unlike anything else on the World Wide Web.

results & real value

The success of the Absolut Director has helped to extend the market branding presence of Absolut Vodka, keeping the company's reputation as a bastion of creativity at its highest point. Users from all over the world have tried their hand at being a movie director, bringing Absolut's market presence to the foreground.