Anna Starberg

Meet Anna Starberg, Education and Akademi Manager at The Absolut Company. Based in Åhus – the small Swedish town where every drop of Absolut Vodka is made – Anna is one of few people in our organisation who has one foot in production, and the other in marketing. 

It’s a role that’s as rare as it sounds.

If you had to sum up your role in one sentence…
It’s unique and diverse. And honestly, it’s the best of two worlds.

I have one foot in our incredible production – coordinating visits to the Absolut Akademi where we bring people from all around the world to Åhus and Stockholm to experience our production, heritage, and identity firsthand. 

The other is in marketing – owning the storytelling behind it all and making sure that when they leave Sweden, they carry that story with them as true ambassadors of our brand.

Not many people at TAC can say that, and that’s what makes it so exciting. Two very different worlds, and I get to live in both.

Much of my work revolves around…
Being the spider in the web, constantly connecting these two worlds and finding the most immersive and educational ways to tell our production and brand stories to different stakeholders. 

It’s also about constantly staying on top of changes and evaluating what we do and how we do it. Are people responding to what we’re saying? What did they love about their visit? What can we do better? And also championing safety when bringing people in and around our production facilities.

A recent project I’m especially proud of…
Creating a full dining experience for a group of important stakeholders in the middle of a wheat field that we cut into the silhouette of an Absolut bottle.

It was quite a bold idea that had been brewing for a while, and thanks to close collaboration with our creative partners, we were able to deliver a really memorable dining experience. We even had a bar serving top-tier Absolut cocktails surrounded by our winter wheat. We held our breath the whole day, hoping the weather gods would be on our side. 

We really created a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will continue to shape how they view our brand and product for years to come.

One thing I’ve learned since joining TAC…
The true meaning of community-made. 

We’re such a big company, and yet so small that almost everyone knows everyone. There’s a really strong culture of not settling and we pay attention to every small detail, whether you’re in production or marketing. It’s incredibly inspiring to see how much we rely on each other. We carry that with pride and humility, every day.

My go-to cocktail…
An Absolut Vanilla Mule, simple, spicy, and always refreshing. It’s the vanilla touch, I would say.