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Vodka relies too heavily on ‘gimmicks’
The premium vodka category is too dependent on “gimmicks” to differentiate itself from entry-level brands, a prominent brand ambassador has said.
Joe McCanta, global brand ambassador for Grey Goose vodka (photo: Grey Goose)
Joe McCanta of Grey Goose said that “gimmicks” – such as filtering vodka through diamonds – are too prominent in the premium market.
He also challenged the impact that such techniques have on flavour and quality, and claimed that consumers are much too intelligent to be won over by tricks that take away from “the truth” behind the production process.
“Brands that filter through crystal or moon rock – they charge a fortune for it,” he said jokingly, “but does it make any impact on quality? I don’t think so.”
“We don’t rely on gimmicks like this” as Grey Goose instead focuses on the “quality of our raw ingredients”, he said in an exclusive interview with the drinks business.
Criticising brands that underestimate the power of the modern luxury consumer, McCanta said, “They have smart-phones in their pocket and can find out the truth about what they are buying. They are interested in the production process behind their luxury products.
“The market should be a reflection of that, with a lot of importance being put on the back-story behind a product.”
However, he acknowledged that vodka doesn’t have the benefit of vintage variation or ageing that other spirits use to communicate quality.
“Vodka is an interesting category; you don’t have the ageing process or the vintages offered by other spirits or wine. As such, the true craft to a fantastic vodka is achieving consistency from year to year, bottle to bottle. What we try to say is that our idea of luxury is about consistent quality, without the gimmicks.”
The growth rate of super-premium vodka has been outstripping the rest of the category in the UK on-trade lately, according to figures from Euromonitor International.
While the total category has declined 2.4% in volume sales in the year to July 2015, super-premium’s share of the market increased by 20% in the same period. Standard entry-level vodka shrank 6.6%, and premium vodka flatlined.
However, the standard vodka market is still 18 times bigger by volume sales than the super-premium sector.
McCanta’s comments will feature in a special focus on ultra-premium spirits in the December issue of the drinks business.
This is one of few times that you’ll see me agree in part with Grey Goose. I think if you do a good job educating your customers on the merits of your products, the origin, your ingredients and your process then all the pure unadultrated B.S. you hear about becomes crystal clear. People ask us all the time, why did you choose to make ZIM’S Vodka in Poland? It’s all about delivering a traditional product from arguably the motherland of vodka. I know people say, never say never but what I can tell you is that we’re not going down the “gimmick row” of flavored or mixing vodka with another spirit in the hopes that people will like it.
What’s next, vodka mixed with gin in a fancy bottle for a hundred dollars a fifth!
Not in our stable.
Terry Olson
Founder & CEO
The Rebel Spirits Group, LLC
dba ZIM’S Vodka
Terry,
Gin is flavored vodka. Both neutral grain spirits but one is distilled with botanicals, generally juniper being predominant. Just an FYI that I’d hope a CEO would know.
Look, as much as at times I would like to agree with with Grey Goose or Terry Olson, in a market place you need a point of difference. Business is like the art of fighting. If the bloke you are going up against is bigger than you, find the weakness or the difference. If that difference means a following and you actually use diamonds, or bottle by the light of a full moon, or use ten vestal virgins to give the wine purity, as the public likes it, go for it. No different than buying vitamin tablets – will give you the vitality to go all day, breakfast cereal, coca-cola and all those other products we get sucked in daily to purchase, or rather waste our money on.