Gin is more than just a spirit; it’s an adventure in a glass, a narrative, a unique expression of craft, and a passionate celebration of botanical diversity.
It’s the ultimate opportunity for distillers to weave tales in liquid form. And it’s those stories that have helped build the category’s huge renaissance over the past decade.
While these stories start in the distillery, they don’t end until it’s savoured by an enthusiast who feels connected with the ideas and the message being conveyed.
So, how do you ensure that your gin conveys the right message for your brand though its flavour? How does the taste echo your marketing hooks and enhances your distillery’s identity in every sip? How is your pitch palpable?
Today, with the thousands of gins available, delivering world class drinking experiences isn’t just about delivering something that tastes phenomenal. It is also about making a product that speaks of something and that allows a drinker to taste their way into your world.
Standing out is as much about taste as it is about synergy. It’s about bridging ideation with real flavour and crafting a gin that lives up to its pitch.
Understanding your brand’s identity, then distilling it
Before you take to the still, you must understand the heart and soul of your brand.
Are you a purveyor of tradition, steeped in the history of gin making? Or are you an innovator, eager to test the boundaries of conventional distilling? Is your brand about local pride, drawing on homegrown botanicals? Perhaps you’re the epitome of global fusion, blending unique ingredients from across the globe…
Your gin should mirror your brand’s identity. Your gin’s style, flavour profile, and production method should all convey your brand’s unique narrative. When it all aligns, it’s more authentic, more coherent, more focussed, and fundamentally, has more chance to build a fan base as they know exactly what they are buying into.
Often, crafting a gin that perfectly aligns with your brand’s pitch isn’t achieved by just having one person do it all.
It’s a symphony performed by the marketing, PR, sales, and distilling teams working harmoniously towards the same goal. The distiller’s craft isn’t merely about mixing the right botanicals in the right proportions. Nor distilling them.
It’s about understanding the brand’s vision, the marketing strategy, and the story that needs to be told. A good distiller should be obsessed about getting under the skin of the brand before setting out on making a recipe.
That’s no easy feat. Taking a clear, coherent, and compelling brand message and reflecting it in every sip of a gin is as hard to do as taking words off a page and creating a movie. It’s like reviewing architecture through the medium of modern dance. It’s synaesthetic and an abstract science.
For gin, NPD is a creative act of interpretation.
Cultivating harmony between teams to make your pitch palpable (and vis versa)
Whether you are part of a small operation where a handful of people wear many hats or part of a multinational corporation with a vast workforce, it’s essential that everyone is on the same page. Regular and open communication is key.
If distillers are tasked to create a new gin – they need to thoroughly understand what they’re being asked to create and who it’s primarily driven towards.
They should work closely with the marketing, PR, and sales teams to understand the brand identity and marketing strategy. Once they have a clear picture of the brand’s identity and the desired market positioning, they can begin to craft a gin that embodies these elements.
Try and host micro experiences ahead of flavour trials. Build the brand world ahead of recipe ideation. Find ways for everyone to verbalise what it is and what it isn’t about.
Similarly, these teams should have a clear understanding of the gin’s flavour profile. They need to understand how (what can often be abstract) concepts have been interpreted and how they are reflected in the product they are selling.
Great gins are never built in a vacuum.
Almost all NPD at big distilleries happen with multiple teams present right at the start of the process. Creating something in a vacuum might lead to something interesting, but it’s more likely to end in something niche. It might lead to something tasty, but that might not have broad appeal. It may be technically brilliant, but too hard to explain to a casual drinker and hard to sell.
Close the loop and ensure that every sip of your gin tells the same story that your marketing and sales teams are telling by developing all the aspects simultaneously. That starts by getting everyone to start telling it, together, before you make it.
Is your pitch palpable?
Here are five questions brand owners can ask themselves to ensure their gin matches their brand message.
Does our packaging effectively convey our brand’s flavour identity?
First impressions matter. The design, colour scheme, and overall presentation of your gin’s packaging should align with your brand’s identity and the flavours it might contain. It should provide a visual hint to the experience the consumer will get when they open the cap.
How does the overall drinking experience match the expectations set by the bottle and what’s being said?
Your marketing and sales pitch set the stage for the consumer’s experience. Does the taste, aroma, and overall experience of drinking your gin match what your audience has been led to expect? Is there harmony between the promise and the delivery?
Looking deeper – are the botanicals chosen emblematic of our brand’s narrative?
The botanicals are the heart and soul of your gin. Do they reflect the story you’re telling? How are you telling that story in a sales pitch? If there are some that do and some that don’t, upweight and downgrade accordingly. For example, if you are talking about a Mediterranean gin that is herbal and savoury to taste, and that has olives, rosemary and thyme in the mix – lead with that in the copy. The likes of angelica root, orris, and coriander seed don’t need to have equal presence just because they are in the recipe.
Don’t lie or hide what’s in there, but curate what get’s presented front and centre based on what’s relevant to setting flavour expectation and matching brand identity.
Is the distillation process consistent with our brand message?
The method used to distil your gin can send a powerful message. If your brand stands for authenticity and tradition, are you using traditional distillation methods? Conversely, if your brand promotes modernity and technological advancement, are you utilising the latest distilling tools and techniques?
Even if you don’t lead with production in your pitch, if it jars it’ll create a block later on in the consumer’s journey. Which takes us back to why it’s important to visualise flavour, process, pitch and sales patter all at the same time. This is the kind of thing that would be ironed out in the early stages of a well coordinated NPD process.
By honestly addressing these questions, brand owners can help ensure that their gin not only tastes excellent but also stays true to their brand identity, aligns with their marketing strategy, and resonates with their target audience.
In conclusion, crafting a gin that embodies your brand’s narrative through its flavour is an intricate blend of artistry and strategy. Most of all, it’s about collaboration.
Good NPD is inclusive. Collaboration among the distillery, marketing, and sales teams is the best way to create a product that not only tastes exceptional but also resonates with your audience and aligns with your identity authentically.
