Marketing Practices & Implementation

Group Project Submission in Term II

Group 4
Abhijeet Singh (12PGHR01) Ajay Yashwanth Ronanki (12PGHR09) Naman Goel (12PGHR36) Parul Jain (12PGHR39) Prateek Singhal (12PGHR41) Sathya S (12PGHR62) PGHR 2012-14

SECTION I

The Company & the Product Our product of study is Absolut Vodka manufactured by V&S Group (Pernod Ricard). It is a brand of vodka produced near Ahus, Skane, in southern Sweden. The French group Pernod Ricard bought Absolut for an amount of 5.63 billion euros in 2008 from the Swedish state. Absolut is the third largest brand of alcoholic spirits in the world after Bacardi and Smirnoff and is sold in 126 countries. The Absolut story began long before the introduction of vodka on American market and can be read on every Absolut bottle: This superb vodka was distilled from grain grown in the rich fields of southern Sweden. It has been produced at the famous old distilleries near hus in accordance with more than 400 years of Swedish tradition. Vodka has been sold under the name ABSOLUT since 1879. In 1878, Olsson Smith registered a trademark under the name of Absolut Rent Brnnvin, meaning Absolutely pure vodka. With this product, Swedish entrepreneur introduced a revolutionary way of distilling vodka: a continuous distillation process which produces superior product. Absolut is still distilled with this method, though it has been further improved. First exported from Sweden in 1979, in 1985 Absolut ranked first among imported vodkas in the United States. Today, Absolut ranks third largest spirit brand around the world and is virtually available in 126 markets. Being premier global brand, Absolut has the pre-eminent growth share in the category of premium vodka. In 2003, shipments to the United States increased 7.7% to reach 72.9 million litres. Its sales growth on global scale has grown from 10,000 nine-litre cases in 1979 to 7.5 million nine-litre cases in 2002.

Objective of the project To study the product differentiation, positioning strategy, branding strategy, marketing mix and different elements of the advertising campaign of Absolut Vodka since 1979.

Justification & Significance of the project When talking about Absolut success story, it is impossible to not mention its outstanding marketing and advertising campaign: the campaign has been running for more than 25 years and was built on carefully developed strategy. Since the beginning of promotional campaign by launch of Absolut Perfection in 1980, more than seven hundred absolute advertisements were created (From the Fine art of advertising to the advertising of fine art.). In 1999, Advertising Age named absolute ad campaign among the ten best advertising campaigns in the twentieth century. In 2002, Forbes named Absolut Vodka the number-one luxury brand globally. For 25 years of Absolut promotional campaign, the company won more than 30 awards for its outstanding advertisements. By conducting a research on such a product, we aim to understand the perfect implementation of guerrilla marketing by Absolut through its absolutely innovative manufacturing practices, viral videos & other campaigns, and one of the gems in the history of advertising campaigns. We also aim to understand the Indian perception about various fine nuances of the products marketing and advertising campaign by conducting a survey and contrast it against the international perception.

Outline/flow of the project

Study of the positioning strategy, branding strategy and marketing mix of Absolut Vodka

Literature Review of the different elements of the advertising campaign and hypothesis generation

Primary survey to understand the Indian response and perception about Absolut Vodka

Comparison between the results of the primary and secondary research and derivation of conclusion

SWOT Matrix

Strengths: Famous and established brand in America and Canada Most powerful advertising campaign amongst all spirits (increased sales by 14900% over 15 years) Revolutionary distillation process Leading luxury brand in the world Powerful brand image of the company associated with art and chic

Weaknesses: Weak company's position after reform in distribution channels (Seagram, one of the 3 importers of Absolut in U.S. went out of business) Complete reliance on brand image as liquor products are all similar in taste and quality

Opportunities: Expand channels of advertising in the form of Internet and TV Establishing new brands to meet the needs of a larger consumer base in terms of cost and quality Greater expansion worldwide and deeper penetration in local markets

Threats: Emergence of new powerful competitors like Grey Goose, Ketel One, Belvedere Pressure from more expensive luxury brands and less expensive brands like Smirnoff Active use of TV, radio and other advertising means by competitors

SECTION II

Literature Review 1. Goal set by the company The objective of Absolut is to retain its position of market leader in imported spirits category in the United States and promote its brand further worldwide. Absolut is the worlds leading company in liquor industry and therefore it is natural that the goal of the company is to retain its leading position and increase the sales volumes even further. Also, the company targets to further establish strong brand image of the company through its unique and ingenious marketing campaign cantered on artful, beautiful and chameleon-like bottle, exclusive quality of the product and appeal to luxury and chic.

2. Target Market Absolut targets the age group of 15-40 in the global spirits market. Being available in 126 countries, the brand has acquired American, Canadian and Finnish market as its main export targets. In these countries, it has leading positions in liquor industry. Along with such broad operations area, Absoluts strategy is aimed at acquiring specific industry niche worldwide: niche of luxury brands in the liquor industry.

3. Product differentiation & positioning strategy Positioning strategy refers to how the organization wants its consumers to perceive their product. The positioning strategy includes the message the company wants to convey to consumers about its product.

The positioning strategy of Absolut is built on differentiating their product from their competitors, of conveying its message through package, through style, though advertisement, that Absolut vodka is slightly different from other types and brands of spirits. The positioning and differentiation strategy of Absolut relies on the main option: emphasizing the distinctive unique benefit of the vodka concerned. This is emphasized by the price, by the package (uniqueness of bottle), by the unique advertising company, conveying both broadcast and

narrowcast messages, by the production method, and, most important, the quality of chic and magnificence attached to the product. Competitive differentiation, thus, is the dimension of such positioning strategy undertaken by Absolut, which provides a strong foundation of building competitive advantage of the brand and drive all future marketing decisions. The differentiation strategy of Absolut enables turn the vision, the image of the company in this particular case, into the reality and manage customers perceptions. Apart from the quality of the product, the peculiarity of package, and the exporting country, the main element of differentiation strategy employed by V&S, the producer of Absolut, is its unique advertising campaign aimed at creating the image of intellectual, artful, luxury brand. In the liquor market, there is very little scope for differentiation due to limited taste and quality differences in the product line. Therefore, it is vital, notwithstanding of the fact, for a company wishing to establish itself as a corporate leader, to invent viable and unique differentiating strategy of its product. This is done by establishing fashionable and artful image of the company through the means of advertisement. Absolut advertising campaign still follows a carefully elaborated strategy on the basis of variety and continuity. The advertisements are sophisticated, witty and imaginative as they communicate the brands values (A Visual Analysis of the Absolut Vodka Advertising Campaign). Since the launch of advertisement campaign, about 1,500 Absolut ads were created. This absolutely innovative advertising helps to create brand recognition and brand awareness among consumers and impact greatly on differentiating product specially when competing in product categories which do not provide considerable scope for differentiation. The following section will focus on marketing mix, revealing product, place price and promotion decision targeted at embodying the companys branding and positioning strategies.

4. The Marketing Mix PRODUCT The brands name is Absolut, derived from primary name of Absolutely pure vodka. The style and package of the product differentiates it from all the other vodka producers around the world (the bottle shape was taken from classical Swedish medicine bottle which was weird at the time since it differed from the standard vodka bottle shape. The product also aims to differentiate itself in quality dimension: Absolut defines its approach to vodka production as One Source. This One Source is hus, a small picturesque town in the south of Sweden near the birthplace of Absolut founder Lars Olsson Smith, where every drop of Absolut vodka is made. The water for vodka comes from Absolutowned well, deep in pristine subterranean aquifers, as mentioned on their site. Producing all the production of the company in single space using local raw materials provides Absolut with total control over all production stages and ensures that every drop in its 500,000 bottled made daily comply with its high quality standards. A revolutionary distillation method invented by Olsson Smith, the continuous distillation process is used to produce Swedish vodka to ensure that Absolut achieved the quality it claims to have. Continuous distillation process serves a superior way to remove impurities in vodka while maintaining the taste and character of the raw materials used. Thus, it is evident that practically all parameters of the product concerned are unique.

PRICE Since Absolut positions itself as a luxury brand, it uses skim pricing strategy to support its claim for leadership in chic market. Skim pricing aims at skimming the cream of the top of the market by setting a high price for its product. The bottle of Absolut costs $35 while a bottle of American Smirnoff is worth $14. Thus, with no apparent difference in taste, Absolut sends a message to the higher-strata consumers about coolness of its brand. In this, the company pursues quality leadership objective. Recently, a number of competitors, such as Grey Goose, emerged on American market with price per bottle even higher than

that of Absolut. They attracted a considerable share of customers attention, since they appealed to the customers with similar message: a sign of extremely high quality and chic. Absolut responded by launching Level, a new brand of Vodka with most innovative distillation process based on combination of continuous and batch distillation, which is revolutionary to vodka production. It is understood that the price per bottle is high as well underlining the uniqueness of production process and appealing to luxury market segment.

PLACE To develop its competitive advantage, Absolut decided to strengthen and integrate its distribution channels, After Seagram, one of three leading American distribution partners of V&S Group, left business in the early 1990s, Absolut has undergone a major transition with its distribution partners to form Absolut Spirits Co., responsible for importing and marketing of Absolut, Jim Beam and other brands worldwide and in the United States particularly.

PROMOTION In Absoluts case, promotion element of marketing mix was the most important decisive part of brand building and differentiating the brand on the global market. Absolut ad campaign has increased vodka sales of V&S Group by 14,900% over the course of 15 years. This innovative advertising helped to create brand recognition and awareness around the world. As Goran Lundquist, the president of Absolut, noted about Absolut sensation, the consumers drink ads as much as they drink vodka. "Absolut advertising is celebrated not just for its longevity but also for its ingenuity. Readers tear out the ads and hang them on their walls. Librarians have to guard their magazines from being deAbsoluted. College students actually collect and trade ads. A SoHo antique shop hawks copies of Absolut Wonderland, while a Madison Avenue newsstand carefully razors the Absolut pages from its stock and sells them for a few dollars apiece (naturally, selling the magazines as well) says one of the numerous case studies on Absolut ad

campaign (A Visual Analysis of the Absolut Vodka Advertising Campaign). The Absolut advertising campaign still carefully follows a strategy developed 20 years ago. Since the first ad, 1,500 Absolut ads were issued all going in line with the brand image: witty, imaginative and sophisticated. For more then twenty years of Absolut ad campaign, it was running solely in print ads form, with Internet and TV ads added to the advertising concept not so long ago. But indeed its printed ad campaign that contributed most to the building of Absolut image and is appreciated worldwide. In Absolut ads, Readers enjoy a relationship with this advertising that they have with few other advertising campaigns, especially in the print media. They are challenged, entertained, tickled, inspired, and maybe even befuddled as they try to figure out what's happening inside an Absolut ad." The first element of Absolut ad recognized by the customer is bottle. Since ad has been running for more than 20 years, readers have become familiar with the way Absolut ads present themselves. The readers look at the bottle and try to guess what the image is trying to convey. Words below the image, always in the form of two-word slogan, Absolut + something, give the final key to the idea. This is the point where Absolut ads become unique. Even if the reader cannon fully comprehend the message of the bottle, he still identifies himself with the main element of the ad, the bottle. Thus, the most important part of the ad always shines to the reader. In the end, Absolut advertising campaign refers to cultural knowledge. Each Absolut ad makes reference to some element of pop culture. Even if the ad references itself, Absolut has become such a landmark, that it is considered by readers as cultural icon (A Visual Analysis of the Absolut Vodka Advertising Campaign). The word absolute, present in each ad, gives its a definite quality. Thus, the references are portrayed as some definitive version of cultural element. At the same time, Absolut ad conveys the message that it is made out to be definitive vodka. Nothing defines what vodka is better that Abslout. Absolut ad campaign is also outstanding due to the reason that it refers to both broadcast and narrowcast codes when reading the ad message. Narrowcast

codes are intended to appeal to the limited audience, which possess unique knowledge to understand the message of the ad. This can be illustrated by the example of Warhol advertisement. Only those people who know the works of Andy Warhol can read the message sent to them. They thus get the feeling that the ad was tailor-made for them. As Richard Lewis in his Absolut Book notices, "It's a special set of ads that are obviously not for everyone. We run them only in literaryminded publications such as the New Yorker and the New York Times Book Review or occasionally in film and entertainment magazines... But we hear time and time again that people appreciate the challenge, particularly when the conquer it." Thus, narrowcast ads are rewarding for people who have enough cultural knowledge to understand. This makes sense of their appeal and adds to the Absolut intellectual image.

Absolut attained one more result by referring to the world of art and fashion phenomena in their ads: they positioned themselves as intellectual brand closely related to art, fashion and all modern progressive movements.

One of recent development of Absolut ad campaign is its active introduction on the Internet with their high-tech chic site. When the company launched Absolut Vanilla on the internet, the event was a departure from its old tradition of print advertisement to introduce new products. Though internet ads were used earlier, that was the first time World Wide Web was used ad a primary advertising channel. The site offers lots of interactive features and again shows that Absolut goes in pace with time. Another outstanding recent development was Absoluts introduction on television in 2004 to promote new Raspberry flavor. The move was made in response to competitors (like Smirnoff and Grey Goose) TV advertisements. The absolute expansion onto television is a

noteworthy event because the success of the brand over 25 years was built exclusively on its printed campaign. The new form of ad, created

by Absolut, the art form continued to live through TV advertisement and through such innovative advertisement means as Absolut sculptures exhibition within the framework of Absolut Spectacular worldwide creative vodka advertising campaign.

The last thing to mention in promotional decisions section is the cost of ad campaign. In 2004, the cost of Absolut advertisement only in the USA made up $34 million, which is a considerable sum even for a world leader.

Hypotheses Development 1. When Absolut entered the U.S. market in 1979, people were accustomed to American and Russian brands and it was very difficult for a new unknown foreign brand like Absolut to make a mark in the U.S. market also because of its price which was at that time about $15. This was amongst the most expensive drinks in the category at the time. Absolut understood this insight and basically targeted the rich category of people using a series of ad campaigns with taglines like ABSOLUT PEAK, ABSOLUT STARDOM and ABSOLUT 19TH. All of these reflected activities attainable by the highest social class. 2. One of the most innovative and recognizable ad campaigns, especially in the U.S. context. This includes both the ABSOLUT and the IN AN ABSOLUT WORLD campaign. 3. Absolut created an awesome brand experience through its guerrilla marketing activities. For e.g., the Absolut Temptation box was so designed that people felt a strong desire to take out a bottle from the box. Again, the campaign was so designed so as to capture the attention of passengers waiting for their luggage at the airports. 4. Robots, sculptors, painters, glass designers, musicians and fashion designers along with advanced manufacturing equipment were used to make customized bottles with unique colour combinations, design and themes. This makes the bottles very attractive and generates the interest in a regular and even an occasional alcohol consumer to purchase a bottle just to collect the uniqueness of its design.

5. V&S group identified the increasing proportion of LGBT community in the U.S. and brought about a plethora of campaigns to emerge a market leader amongst the members of this community. These included LGBT targeted efforts, signages in gayborhoods etc. They also released some viral videos to appeal to this community like Cut the Crap and OUTrageous.

Methodology

Analysis of secondary data to gather insights into the critical factors for the Secondary success of research in the Absolut Vodka form of advertising collection of campaign data

Gauging Indian perception about the product's advertsing campaign through primary research in the form of a survey

Comapring the results of the primary reasearch and the insights from the secondary research to understand the difference in perception of the Indian and the American mindset for Absolut Vodka

Questionnaire 1. Age a. Less than or equal to 21 b. 22 24 c. 25 27 d. >27 2. Work experience a. Fresher b. Less than 1 year of work-ex c. 1 3 years of work-ex d. >3 years of work-ex 3. Your monthly expenditure on yourself at present (this includes your expenditure on the fast-food you consume, movie shows you go for, stationary you purchase and everything else on which you spend for YOURSELF ONLY) a. < Rs. 1000 b. Rs. 1000 3000 c. Rs. 3000 6000 d. >Rs. 6000 4. Do you consume alcohol in general? a. Yes b. No 5. Do you consume Vodka? a. Yes b. No 6. Do you consume alcohol with your family (SOCIAL DRINKING)? a. Yes b. No 7. How often do you drink? a. Never b. Rarely c. Occasionally d. Frequently e. Every day or every couple of days

Answer the following questions by rating on a scale of 1 to 5 8. How much do these ads appeal to you? (1 indicates the least appeal and 5 indicates the highest appeal)

9. How much do these ads appeal to you? (1 indicates the least appeal and 5 indicates the highest appeal)

10. How much do these ads appeal to you? (1 indicates the least appeal and 5 indicates the highest appeal)

11. How much more or less would you prefer to purchase such bottles than your usual bottles? (1 indicates least preference for these bottles, 3 indicates the usual preference and 5 indicates the highest preference to purchase these bottles)

12. Do you find this Vodka bottle packaging box unique and appealing? (1 indicates the least appeal and 5 indicates the highest appeal)

13. How would it affect your decision to purchase an otherwise excellent brand of Vodka if it has a separate advertising campaign targeting the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) community? (1 indicates most negative affect, 3 indicates no effect and 5 indicates most positive affect)

SECTION III

Hypothesis

Series 1 Absolut Ads would make a significantly positive impact if launched in India at the present time. Series 2 Absolut Ads would make a significantly positive impact if launched in India at the present time. In An Absolut World Ads would make a significantly positive impact if launched in India at the present time. Customized fancy bottles of Absolut would make a significantly positive impact if launched in India at the present time. Absolut Temptation innovative packaging box would make a significantly positive impact if launched in India at the present time. Absolut Vodka separate advertising campaign for the LGBT community would make a significantly positive impact if launched in India at the present time.

Survey Results

Age

Age
>27

25-27 Age 22-24

<=21

10

20

30

40

50

60

 Work Experience

Work Experience
>3 Year

1-3 Year Work Experience <1 Year

Fresher

10

20

30

40

50

Monthly Personal Expenditure

Monthly Personal Expenditure

>6000

3000-6000 Monthly Personal Expenditure 1000-3000

<1000

10

20

30

40

 Alcohol Consumption

Alcohol Consumption

No

Alcohol Consumption

Yes

10

20

30

40

50

60

Vodka Consumption

Vodka Consumption

No

Vodka Consumption

Yes

10

20

30

40

50

60

 Social Drinking

Social Drinking

No

Social Drinking

Yes

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Frequency of Drinking

Frequency
Every Day

Frequently

Occasionally

Frequency

Rarely

Never 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

 Series 1 Absolut Ads perception (On a scale of 1 to 5)

Series 1 Absolut Ads Perception

5

Series 1 Absolut Ads Perception

1 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Series 2 Absolut Ads perception (On a scale of 1 to 5)

Series 2 Absolut Ads perception

5

Series 2 Absolut Ads perception

1 0 10 20 30 40

 In An Absolut World Ads perception (On a scale of 1 to 5)

In An Absolut World Ads perception

5

In An Absolut World Ads perception

1 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Fancy Absolut Bottles Appeal (On a scale of 1 to 5)

Fancy Bottles Appeal

5

Fancy Bottles Appeal

1 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

 Absolut Temptation Box Appeal (On a scale of 1 to 5)

Absolut Temptation Box Appeal

5

Absolut Temptation Box Appeal

1 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

LGBT Campaign Appeal (On a scale of 1 to 5)

LGBT Campaign Appeal

5

LGBT Campaign Appeal

1 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

SPSS Results (Using Phi & Cramers V Crosstab Analysis between demographic and perception items) Significance values Abs_1 Age Work Ex Expense Alcohol Vodka Social 0.399 0.202 0.035 0.000 0.000 0.271 Abs_2 0.798 0.032 0.019 0.000 0.000 0.520 0.001 Abs_World Bottles 0.550 0.575 0.485 0.040 0.062 0.044 0.005 0.881 0.532 0.182 0.540 0.722 0.506 0.830 Package 0.287 0.903 0.635 0.995 0.990 0.952 0.824 LGBT 0.976 0.791 0.843 0.894 0.876 0.973 0.627

Frequency 0.000

*Further discussion in future scope section

Analysis

The results for Series 1 Absolut Ads show that maximum people perceived the campaign as average (3) with almost an equal decline on both sides. The results for Series 2 Absolut Ads show that maximum people perceived the campaign as good (4). The results for In An Absolut World Ad show that maximum people perceived the campaign as average (3) with almost an equal decline on both sides. The results for Customized Fancy Bottles appeal show that maximum people perceived the feature as average (3) with almost an equal decline on both sides. The results for Absolut Temptation packaging box show that there is almost a uniform distribution of responses. Thus, we can say that people perceived this feature as average (3). The results for Absolut special LGBT campaign showed that maximum people responded on the lower side of the scale. Thus, we can say that people perceived this campaign as a detriment (2).

Interpretation

The reason for the average results for Series 1 Absolut Ads might be the research base which has an equal mix of all economic classes. As this series of Ads were designed to appeal to the rich class, it would fail to appeal to every section of the economic strata of Indian society. The reason for the good results for Series 2 Absolut Ads might be the reason that India is a country exceptionally rich in cultural and historical diversity. The theme of this series of Ads aimed to connect symbols of different cultures with the Absolut product. Thus, this kind of cultural inclination may have appealed to the Indian mind-set which has grown up in an environment where there is huge diversity in everything. The average results for In An Absolut World Ads indicate that there are mixed responses to this series of ads. This series of Ads were designed to appeal to the revolting side of the human thought-process. Since, India is a country where traditions are strong and cases of revolt minimum, people may not accept these Ads as well as in the west where there is much more freedom of thought and expression. The average results for customized fancy bottles indicates that people in India drink for the purpose of drinking and additional features like distinguished bottle design are of no great appeal to them as long as the drink, price and other features meet their requirements. The results for Absolut Temptation Packaging Box indicates that people in India do not generally purchase whole boxes of Vodka which have about a dozen bottles but prefer to purchase individual bottles. This limited usage of Vodka doesnt allow them to get the innovative box designs that come with alcohol brands. Thus the average perception since less people actually gets to experience the packaging boxes. The poor results for the LGBT campaign indicate that India is not as open to the LGBT community as in the west. People may actually make a decision to not purchase a brand of alcohol if it runs such a campaign in India because of the social stigma attached to the LGBT community.

Conclusion If Absolut Vodka has to launch its product in India at this very moment and it expects to generate a response similar to that it received in the west some decades back, it must tweak its advertising campaign in the following way:

It should focus heavily on creating ads that appeal to the diversity in India. This can be achieved by centring ads around regional themes like historical monuments, the wide range of cuisines, dresses, weather, languages etc. It should not launch a campaign similar to the LGBT community campaign or any other campaign which might have a social stigma issue attached to it. This might lead to people not accepting it as a product of choice in a country like India. It should neither focus too much nor too less on creating Ads like the Series 1 Ads that are targeted exclusively for a limited class of people, or Ads like the In An Absolut World which appeal to the revolting mind-set. It should not spend too heavily to manufacture fancy customized bottles and packaging boxes like Absolut Temptation but occasional, seasonal and festive offers on these two fronts can be a good idea as demand and involvement at these occasions is more, especially in India where festivities are many.

Future Scope We analysed the data obtained from 88 respondents using Phi & Cramers V crosstab analysis in SPSS. There is a significant correlation amongst pairs of items which have a significance value less than 0.05 and thus a level of confidence greater than 0.95. Some of these pairs are:

Work Ex and Abs_2 Ads Expense and Abs_1 Ads Social Drinking and In an Absolut World Ads

These significant correlations can be further researched and more insights and meaningful inferences can be drawn from this analysis.

In addition, other tests in SPSS like Independent sample T tests and ANOVA can be used to study the minute relations between the different items of the survey.

Structural Equation Modelling can be done using AMOS to arrive at a final model that can be recommended to Absolut Vodka entailing exactly how much a particular campaign or product feature will contribute to the final success of the product in India and thus help them in dividing their attention and focus accordingly.

Last but not the least, more number of responses could be collected and that too from a wider range of people which could not be done due to limitation of time. These will help us in running advanced analysis tools in SPSS and arrive at a better strategy that takes all the kinds of Indian Vodka consumers into account.

References

Analysis of Global Marketing Strategies in Distilled Spirits Industry: Absolut Vodka , Dr. Etienne Musonera, College of Business, Eastern New Mexico University, USA, Dr. David Hemley, College of Business, Eastern New Mexico University, USA Absolut Immortality, Rashmi Athlekar

http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/absolut_vodka_choir?size=_original Absolut Book- Richard W. Lewis http://www.saskschools.ca/~gregory/chr/symbols.html http://www.absolutads.com/gallery/reklama.php?id=429 http://rbth.rg.ru/articles/2008/01/30/vodka_companion.html