The task for spirits producers remains the same as it always has – to build a brand that stands out, endures, and captivates.
And the great news is that smaller, independent producers are finally getting to grips with the idea of what it means to build a brand! It’s not about using local, handcrafted, boutique or artisanal buzzwords. It’s not about just about aesthetic.
True brand building is about so much more than label, liquid profile, or a bottle design. It’s about building a reputation that can turn into a legacy.
Here are a few thoughts on how you can go about building your brand from the ground up and think about it in a far more holistic manner.
If you are at concept stage, this article will help you be expansive in what you are trying to do and will prompt some useful questions to answer. If you’ve already got a product in market, maybe it’ll challenge some assumptions and make you consider what you can do to further establish what you are already all about.
Brand Myth One: “It’s just a label”
Your label, while important, is just the tip of the iceberg. A bit of branding isn’t the sum of your brand.
If it is, it means your brand is as thin as the paper it’s printed on and we’ll break the bad news here and now – you need to start over. Stop focussing your attention on what something looks like and ask yourself what it speaks to, what it conveys and what the wider emotions it’s trying to connect to are.
Good labels and bottle design link drinkers to the ethos, people, process and passion encapsulated within every drop. For the packaging to have the chance to do that, it needs to be able to actually connect to something in the first place.
Building your brand is about building that world first.
After all, when consumers choose your spirit, they’re not just buying a drink. They’re buying into your story, your values, and your craft. Successful designs are merely physical manifestations of a wider, much bigger idea.
Brand Myth Two: The elixir within
While it’s true that the core of any distillery is its liquid, remember that there are many good spirits out there. Many of them are owned by multinational companies who can make it cheaper than you can, in bigger quantities than you can, have money to advertise it more widely than you can, and an incredible wealth of talent at their disposal to strategize ways to get it on shelves.
If it’s a pure liquid vs liquid competition, it’s un-winnable for anyone other than those with deep pockets and international distribution.
But that’s the great thing – it’s not! Just look at spirits shelves and you’ll see there’s a huge mix on there. That’s because all spirits brands are about so much more than liquid alone.
It’s the unique blend of history, technique, passion, and innovation. This blend isn’t just found in the mash, the botanicals or the aging process, it’s found in the narrative weaved around it. The attitude it comes with. The people who advocate for it.
Consumers buy into ideas and that means there is always room for the right one to resonate and find an audience. So get over your liquid’s quality for a minute and start to build those other factors if you want to be succesful.
Let’s look into how that can be done…
Building a memorable brand from the ground up
For start-up distilleries, building a brand might seem like a daunting task. It doesn’t have to be, so long as you focus on the right questions. Namely; why?
Brand values and ethos are not created by describing “what do you do”. It’s the other way around – what you do comes from asking why you do it. Good brands stem from a strong sense of purpose. In this sense, the “why” of a brand delves into the emotional and philosophical core of your venture.
It’s not about profit margins or market share; it’s not about production methodology – it’s about beliefs.
Defining your why.
Defining your brand’s “why” requires introspection, and as a result, each journey to get there is different. Here are few universal useful tips for how to think about it…
- Reflect on Your Beginnings: Often, the roots of your “why” lie in the genesis of your business idea. What gaps did you want to fill in the market? What change did you want to implement? Ideally it’s more than your personal drivers as eventually, your distillery and your bottles have to live without you and carry a their own message.
- For example, wanting to escape the 9-5 is all well and fine, but that’s your reason. The translation of that into a business ‘why’ might be “to be subversive and change the expected social norms”.
- Identify Your Passion: What aspects of your business truly ignite your enthusiasm? It could be the art of crafting, the joy of innovating, or the impact you wish to make on the community. Typically, these are rich with ideas that can help establish shared interests that others can relate to.
- Engage in Conversations: Sometimes, discussing your business with friends, mentors, or customers can unearth deeper motivations and reasons you hadn’t articulated before. Just like the example above, they can translate that underlying motivation into something a little more universal and through verbalising it, give you a strong brand platform off which to build.
In essence, your “why” is not just a marketing tool—it’s the platform off which your brand is built. Your “why” will make drinkers stop, listen, and, more importantly, believe in your brand.
Getting it right is the difference between a brand that simply exists and one that truly lives. You can see this in action when distilleries weave it into the fabric of everything they do – it all seems so effortless. Take a moment to understand that while it may look that way, so much of that work was consciously implemented at early stage brand development.
If you are looking for inspiration – take a look at websites’ ‘About Us’ page, their product’s packaging and so on. Look for strap lines. They drive it home again and again in slightly different ways. The result is total product, message and tone alignment where each echoes the same ethos.
Great distilleries resonate with drinkers
Once you have your foundations set and are implementing it systematically, you’ll find that you’ll quickly be in a position where you feel your brand is resonating with drinkers. Chances are you’ll see it first hand at tastings and trade shows.
But how can you be sure? Brand values are often intangible and setting metrics to judge if you’ve applied them successfully can be tricky.
As we pointed out in our Marketing Strategy article, the same rules can apply to evaluating brand sentiment and resonance. Start by defining what success looks like and identify the metrics that will help you measure it.
Quantifying advocacy, success and ‘stickyness’
- Are they building loyalty? When drinkers resonate with a brand, they transition from consumers to ambassadors. They’ll not only choose your spirit over others but also recommend it, creating organic growth. Commission surveys to find out how many sales are being generated by recommendations. Ask how people heard of you on your site etc…
- Are they helping you achieve premium status? Brands that resonate can command a premium. People are willing to pay more for brands they feel connected to and trust. You can look at ways of quantifying if customers feel your bottle is good value, or other focus groups that determine consumer trust.
- Are hey helping with long-term sustainability? Trends come and go. But brands that have forged genuine connections will weather market fluctuations and changes in drinking preferences. How have you faired compared to category average and was that down to hard-nosed marketing or your Soft Power appeal?
- Are they helping you generate cultural Impact? Brands that deeply resonate often become more than just brands; they become a part of popular culture, ensuring their legacy. How many times are you being mentioned in media organically? How many times are you being approached by the type of businesses that have shared synergies? Are they also active in similar interest / value areas. If the right people are talking about you and approaching you, it’s a sign your values are being understood.
Whatever you do, set some criteria that will help you understand if your values are coming through and succeeding in enhancing your reputation. Adjust your methodology and messaging if you are not achieving the desired results, don’t change the brand value itself.
Simply by doing the above and implementing it – you’ll already be better than 50% of independent spirits brands out there.
Too many have not understood the importance of building a brand from the inside out, and the ground up. If you are a new start-up or budding founder, use this to leapfrog ahead. Have a look at how to bridge the information here, with our other articles on Brand Values & Tone of Voice for more
You’ll soon create authentic differentiation and outperform your competition on shelf and outclass them in the court of popular opinion.
