FIRST A BIT ABOUT US.
“Sobieski proudly stands apart from the lack of substance embraced by so many vodkas today, says Brandes. We offer a superior product at a superior value-the leading premium vodka brand in Poland, vodka’s birthplace-and we won’t try to generate appeal with contrived or empty gimmicks. Our story is about real vodka that’s meant to be enjoyed, not worshipped, and we have and will continue to share our point of view with the world.
We are a brand with nothing to hide, and the confidence (and humor) to talk about ourselves in simple, straightforward and black and white terms”
“In our first full calendar year, Sobieski depletions reached 255,000 cases in the U.S,” says Brandes. “Moreover, we’re setting our sights on being the fastest new vodka brand to achieve sales of one million cases, an ambitious but achievable milestone. “From distributors to retailers, Sobieski Vodka has received outstanding support, which has made our initial success possible. In addition to Sobieski, Imperial Brands has recently taken over the representation of Marie Brizard, the world’s leading premier line of cordials and liqueurs. In spite of a not so favorable economy, we are convinced there is tremendous potential to develop Marie Brizard in the States. There is no preemptive, premium line of cordials doing significant volume in this market. Most professional mixologists will tell you that when it comes to quality, Marie Brizard is heads and shoulders above the competition. We need to retell and educate a generation of consumers and the on premise trade about the virtues of this great brand, a challenge we gladly accept. Imperial Brands is in the process of launching a line of premium (Tcherga) and Estate wines (Katazyna) from Bulgaria. Again, this is an education process, Bulgaria has a wine making tradition dating back some 3,000 years. The Belvedere Groupe has extensive viticultural holdings in Bulgaria and up until recently quality entries from Bulgaria were not available in North America. Based upon the accolades our wines have received from prominent writers thus far, there is no reason why Bulgaria can’t become the next exciting “new world” wine producing country. Finally, we have new and innovative products in our pipeline that we believe will continue to shake up the exciting world of wine and spirits.”
Back To Basics
While Sobieski Vodka is carving out a place for itself in the crowded vodka market with a classic bottle and a simple promise—great quality and value—The Imperial Brands team is out there presenting the trade and consumers alike with “just the facts,” but in a warm and humorous way that strips away the hype that defined the category and brings their audience back to Earth. Truths that draw upon Sobieski’s noble origins and the fact that it is both the #1 premium vodka in Poland and one of the world’s bestselling and fastest growing vodka brands. They also make no bones about the fact that Sobieski Vodka, produced at the Starogard Gdansk Distillery, founded in 1846, is made exclusively from the revered Dankowski rye, the grain of choice for most premium Polish Vodkas. Moreover Brandes notes,”Christophe Trylinski, CEO of our group and the “father” of Sobieski vodka is the man who created both Belvedere and Chopin vodkas, no small accomplishment!”
Backing up Imperial Brands’ claims, meanwhile, are many industry awards and accolades. In the fall of 2007, Sobieski Vodka in a blind tasting by the Beverage Testing Institute of 108 brands in the premium vodka segment (the largest review of vodka in its history), earned a Double Gold Medal and Best Buy Award. Sobieski also ranked #1 in a blind-tasting of 25 major international vodka brands conducted in Paris by La Revue du Vin de France, one of France’s top wine and spirits publications.
“I think the Chicago Beverage Testing Institute results prove our point about consumers not having to pay a king’s ransom to get great vodka.” points out Brandes. “In this competition, Sobieski scored 95 points coming in second place to a vodka brand that retails for $60.00/bottle! As our retail is around $10-11/bottle, it reinforces what we’ve been saying all along about our positioning. You can pay $60 for a great vodka, but you certainly don’t have to!”
A Clear and Present Wager
As consumers and trade are in the midst of shifting their spending priorities, and now generally steering clear of excess expenses, Sobieski Vodka’s suggested retail prices of $10.99 for a 750 ml bottle and $19.99 for a 1.75 liter bottle are now more seductive than ever. While Sutinen and Brandes acknowledge that even recession-proof areas of commerce feel the effects of change, they are prepared to ride the wave on their own terms, no matter how stormy the seas get.
“We are pretty much sticking with our strategy as it has worked extraordinarily well,” affirms Brandes. “The fact that there was a meltdown in the economy is something nobody’s happy about. On the other side of the coin, however, we’re in a unique position to capitalize on that in terms of customer and demand for a high quality vodka at an affordable price. It is important to reiterate that when we launched Sobieski in the US in 2007, for all intents and purposes, the economy was “normal.” Our original strategy was the same: you did not have to pay $30 a bottle, to get great vodka. We intend to remain consistent with our message, even though times have changed. In many respects, there is no doubt that the current economic climate has helped us in terms of our competitive price positioning.
Though many of the spirits Sutinen had worked with in the past had a lifestyle-driven or status-conscious message, experience has taught him that there are sound principles that work for marketing spirits, no matter what economic conditions are like. And in the case of Sobieski, they promise to be even more effective.
“We are pointing out the spirit’s origins very clearly,” notes Sutinen. “It was especially important for us to address and explain the Polish origin because many consumers and trade clients place value on the fact that Poland is the birthplace of vodka. That is important to us in all of our communications and messages. Furthermore, the ‘Truth in Vodka’ campaign clearly resonates with consumers and critics alike and differentiates Sobieski from the competitive set. Sobieski Vodka is all about outstanding quality and taste. And though the whole industry is suffering from the effects of the downward economy, we do not suffer as much because of our brand positioning; we will continue to spread the truth to an even wider audience and help them overthrow the tyranny of overpriced vodka.”
Though these messages are successfully hitting their targets, the biggest challenge facing the brand lies in building on the momentum established since Sobieski’s U.S. debut. The company is betting that maintaining/increasing the level of spending and commitment to the three-tier system they’ve had in place for Sobieski Vodka since its U.S. inception will pay off, we have made promises to the trade and it is critical to our and the brand’s credibility that we keep them!!” reiterates Brandes..
It Is Not Only About The Marketing!
“It takes more than a great marketing campaign to build a brand in today’s highly competitive environment. The effects of consolidation on a new company’s ability to successfully launch a brand are challenging to say the least, remarks Chester Brandes. We are very fortunate that the Belvedere Groupe has made the US market its top priority worldwide. As a result sufficient resources have been made available to successfully launch and sustain Sobieski’s growth in the States.
Under the direction of Bob Reider, industry veteran and our VP National Sales Manager we have been able to assemble a team of experienced sales people capable of “hitting the ground running,” says Brandes. Unlike many companies that are cutting back on their sales force, Imperial Brands has added eight additional full time people in 2009 making a total of 23 people in the field. In Northern and Southern California alone we have added three permanent positions in the past year. Our major focus in California this year is in increasing chain distribution; this can not be accomplished without dedicated, committed manpower in the State. We believe, however, that based on the short but highly successful history we’ve had, Sobieski is garnering awareness and credibility amongst the buyers in this all important segment of the market which should facilitate our ability to get listings on the brand. On-premise, meanwhile, is important, especially in trendy cutting edge cities like San Francisco. We’ve just put a salesperson in the Bay Area, not only to help with Sobieski but our other products with high on premise potential like Marie Brizard.”
IMAGE, Pure and Simple
Brandes and Sutinen will be the first to admit that even with Sobieski’s initial success against all the odds, it is not enough to simply have a great vodka on the market with nice packaging and value. The third piece of the puzzle is popular support for what the brand stands for. In Sobieski’s case, its about simplicity and honesty.
“You need to create a personality for your brand,” says Brandes. “That’s key to this whole thing. When you cultivate a consumer following, it is so important to give customers a reason to associate themselves with a brand. When we first saw the ‘Truth in Vodka’ campaign, that was it…we knew that was the message that consumer and the trade wanted to hear. The reality is that consumers and the trade are confused about the all the myths and misconceptions in the category. Vodka made from grapes? A bottle from the hottest designer? A race to distill one more, two more, five times more than the next guy? A hefty price tag that magically transforms so-so vodka into something more, well special? Are these things that make vodka truly superior? We beg to differ. The timing was right for us to launch a quirky and fun campaign aimed at reinforcing the fact that consumers did not need all the extra stuff to have a vodka they could truly appreciate.”
Adds Sutinen, “With Sobieski, we took a different route than the other brands we’ve worked with, in that when we introduced our brand, we stressed the importance of getting back to basics, especially in these economic times, where it means something to our customers to have a super premium quality vodka with a great price point. We wanted to strip away all the gimmicks and claims, and educate people on what vodka really is and what it takes to make a great vodka ingredient-wise and quality wise, and ultimately premium vodka does not have to cost that much. And look at the Sobieski bottle; it does a terrific job of containing the pure excellence of a great vodka. And it’s not bad to look at either.”
Sutinen goes on to explain that to keep Sobieski’s now famous marketing and advertising up-to-date, they are investing significant money in a number of different areas. The original framework of the campaign has been expanded to encompass all aspects of integrated marketing including advertising, events, promotions, outdoor, trade activities, consumer magazines and digital. The Imperial Brands team, meanwhile, is keeping their finger on the pulse of industry trends, current events and pop culture to infuse new life into the basic message of the campaign.
“The nice thing about the brand positioning and maintaining the continuity of our messaging is that we are also open and flexible,” says Brandes. “Whenever something topical surfaces, like an election, the downturn of the economy or perhaps one of our competitors coming out with a new outrageous quality claim about their product this provides us with fresh material to create new executions while at the same time always remaining consistent with the basic message of the campaign. While I don’t anticipate a plethora of new vodka introductions as we have seen in the past, even in the present economic environment there will be a limited number of new brands entering distribution channels. And when they do arrive and start making crazy claims, we will be there to alert the consumer to beware!”
On the Public Relations side, Sobieski’s “Truth in Vodka” campaign was deemed so effective that it was named a finalist by the authoritative trade magazine PR Week for the best consumer launch campaign of the year. Brandes is quick to point out that Sobieski is the only spirit brand that is in the finals of this prestigious competition. Sutinen, meanwhile, notes that in 2008 Sobieski was the recipient of Impact Magazine’s coveted Hot Brand Award as well as A Growth Brand Award from Beverage Information Group. Brandes says the fact that the industry has recognized Sobieski’s performance validates our belief that consumers are much less willing to open their wallets for gratuitous bling and presumed status on items that don’t live up to their overblown price tags. Moreover, based upon the brand’s outstanding sales results to date, there is no question we are getting a great response through the entire three-tier system.”
Getting What They Pay For
Awards aside, Brandes expresses that the key to Sobieski’s overall success is that consumers are getting what they pay for - a real brand of vodka that not only offers quality for a great price, but is differentiated and legitimized by being the top selling premium vodka in its country of origin and vodka’s birthplace.
Brandes then goes back to repeat very pointedly that the strategy for Sobieski’s continued success is to do “more of the same in 2009,” which encompasses increasing the investment in advertising, marketing and PR while continuing to hammer home the same message and strategy that has worked thus far.
“If you look at our packaging, it is clean, classic and simple,” continues Brandes. “It is not Belvedere, or Grey Goose. It is Sobieski, and we knew we could not price ourselves in the $30 range, even though many of the new entries in the category were chasing Grey Goose and Belvedere at the high end. In terms of volume, however, it is important to remember that of the 52 million cases of vodka sold in America, the majority are not sold at the $30/bottle level.”
“We knew immediately that in Sobieski Vodka we had a unique opportunity within the category in terms of quality and positioning,” interjects Sutinen. “It is such an easy product to sell and I am thrilled to be associated with this brand.”
Simple Pleasures
Likewise, there is a fan base of mixologists across the country who are also happy to be a part of the Sobieski Vodka “less is more” revolution, and are showing their appreciation by developing recipes for the brand (see below).
“Recently, we updated the brand’s web site to include some fantastic recipes from noted mixologists throughout the United States,” affirms Sutinen. “Junior Merino, Tad Carducci and Francesco LaFranconi are all members of our great mixologist stable. Because the cocktail culture is so strong in the US, and people are still up to trying new drinks, we are working closely with them to develop new recipes.”
Brandes, like Sutinen, has received similar feedback from professionals who have commented on Sobieski Vodka’s crisp, clean and pure flavor. “They know it is a versatile vodka that’s got a lot of integrity, especially as the grain we are using is authentic and preferred among connoisseurs and other vodka makers.. Because of the product’s neutrality, professionals know Sobieski Vodka is an ideal base for any kind of cocktail. You don’t get a strong aftertaste, and that makes it extraordinarily mixable.”
While classic Sobieski Vodka is continuing to ride high because of its versatility, Brandes and Sutinen coyly mentioned that there are flavored varieties in the works and a tentative launch date has been set for late spring 2009. Though the flavors are for now a tightly guarded secret, Brandes and Sutinen assure their trade and consumer fans that the new additions to the Sobieski family will remain true to the standards set in the “Truth in Vodka” campaign.
“The flavors that we are perfecting right now will be of the highest quality, and will add to our mixologists’ toolkit facilitating the creation of new cocktails,” assures Brandes. “Though the original Sobieski Vodka is a perfect platform for many cocktails, we know from mixologists that sometimes the ingredients needed to achieve a certain flavor profile are not necessarily available in a non-alcoholic format. Therefore, we are addressing that issue with the assortment of flavors that we will be launching. What will remain the same, however, is that our new Sobieski flavors have to be better quality than what our competitors are putting out there. This is what drives the brand…period! Whether it is a neutral or flavored spirit, what we do has to be unparalleled, with all natural ingredients.”
“Flavored vodka got a lot of attention, especially because the media likes all those stories of how exotic things come into being,” concurs Sutinen. “Over the years, flavored vodkas have had a strong presence in the retailer sector. However, knowing what we know about vodka consumption from our years in the business, flavored vodkas total maybe about 15% of overall sales. It is not very big, as the popularity of neutral, unflavored vodkas is much larger, because pure vodkas like Sobieski are easier to mix and make into good cocktails. However, we will have flavors, because there is a demand and we want to show the consumer that we can produce excellent flavored vodka as well.”
Although there is great anticipation and excitement among the Imperial Brands staff, especially with more landmark sales records and innovative flavored vodkas on the horizon, Brandes and Sutinen acknowledge that their greatest sense of accomplishment thus far was launching a vodka that figuratively and literally went “against the grain” to find its niche in the category and the spirits world at large. They take special satisfaction in having created a personality for the brand that is proud, independent minded, not easily labeled or categorized and, most importantly, doesn’t take itself so seriously.
“I could talk all day long about how great Sobieski Vodka is, but the reality is that a brand is not truly great until other people start telling you so,” says Brandes. “We have had the good fortune to be able to start this company from inception enabling us to create a persona and strategy for Sobieski in the most competitive category in our industry; it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Couple that with an incredibly supportive parent company and a highly motivated and dedicated team of professionals at Imperial Brands and its no wonder that our strategy is working! There is an enormous sense of satisfaction in seeing all of this unfold, I’ve been fortunate in my career to have had pieces of that feeling with former companies and brands, but nothing as whole or complete as this.”
The top premium vodka in Poland, its country of origin, and the #7 premium brand in the world, Sobieski was launched in the U.S. in August 2007 and sold 255,000 cases in 2008, making it one of the hottest liquor introductions in years. The brand is 52% ahead of its projected sales for 2009 and on track to be the fastest vodka brand to reach 1 million cases in the U.S., reports Brandes.
something that felt more current,” said Marty Weiss Creative Director for the project, and XIII’s parent. “We wanted to create a clear, distinct identity that captures C&C’s uniqueness.”
