A Guest Blog Post from our Friends at High Proof Creative
A rum, whiskey, vodka, gin or any well-crafted spirit requires vision, time, effort, resources and skill to produce. It’s a story of inspiration, hard work and character that only the distiller can tell. In order to properly market the newly released spirit, it’s important to relate that story to your target customer. That’s why we often think of product marketing as a story-telling opportunity!
As a liquor branding company, we’ve supported product marketing for a wide range of spirits. Each one has a distinct story that appeals to a specific audience. Often its your spirit’s own story that helps you reach your target customer is. But you need to develop that story before you can start telling it to your customers.
When a distillery prepares to market a new product – or even an existing product in a new way – the product story needs to come first. Take, as an example, the gin that one distiller created as an homage to their mother, using ingredients grown and harvested in their home town. We’ll walk through how we tell that story and use it to connect with its target audience.
The Beginning or The Hook
Where did the spirit begin? Long before the still, it began as an idea – a spark of inspiration that led the distiller to draft up a recipe or collect ingredients. Pinpointing when, where and how that idea came to the distiller makes for a great beginning of a story.
It’s effective to consider the source of the concept. What moved the distiller so much that they felt compelled to create a spirit? Often that same motivation will appeal to a wider audience and could make for a great hook at the beginning of the story.
In the case of our gin distiller, the idea to develop a distinctive vodka that makes a great cocktail came to them as a way to honor their mother, who loved a good negroni. A close connection with mom is a classic story – one that many customers can easily relate to. And, in order to build a high-quality gin that perfectly complements a negroni, the distiller relates the measures they took for success – giving the customer a good reason to taste this new spirit. It might be the motivation they need to pick up a bottle.
The Middle or The Journey
Once the distiller has their motivation and inspiration set, it’s time for the journey or the steps they took to craft a fine beverage. This includes sourcing ingredients (where did they come from and how did the distiller get them), fine-tuning a recipe (lots of test runs before the final product) and securing the equipment needed (the still and maybe barrels for aging).
The middle of the story leads the reader through this journey in a compelling and exciting way. Perhaps it shares challenges that the distiller encountered and had to overcome. Having difficulty finishing a passion project is something many customers can relate to and find common ground with as they read.
For the gin distiller, ingredients were sourced from their hometown in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. They wanted to find the perfect combination of botanicals to design the perfect negroni gin. The distiller tried a wide variety of ingredients and failed several times in her endeavor. After a lot of trial and error, she found the right blend for her gin.
The End or The Moral of the Story
An idea has come to life through a complete journey and now it’s time to introduce the audience to the finished product. That spirit that’s the result of inspiration, carefully selected ingredients and an expert hand can now be released and described in detail. The aromas and flavors that make up this beverage have come to life on the page for your customers.
Built into this final act, the distiller offers a sort-of moral for the story. Of course, it won’t echo the morals you hear during after school specials but it will follow a same pattern. That moral delivers the reason your audience wants their own bottle of your product.
When our gin distiller considered her moral, she thought about everything that made this product worth enjoying. It made the best negroni anyone has ever tasted but it also stood out on its own or in other cocktails. She detailed out the flavors that shine through those Willamette Valley botanicals, like angelica root and rosemary that team up with juniper for an unmatched flavor profile. The moral? Negroni lovers – and gin lovers in general – need to find a bottle.
Where to Tell The Product Story
Telling your brand story
Once the story is written, versions of it should accompany any marketing around the product. For instance, design it into the label, publish it on the product page on your website, add it to sell sheets, incorporate it into press releases and blog posts, make sure the tasting room staff knows the story so they can tell it and share short versions of it via social media.
An important part of adding a story to the website is incorporating keywords for SEO purposes. That means looking at what people are searching for in relation to the product and the story. For instance, if people who like negronis also search for Campari and sweet vermouth, insert those terms into any version of the story. By doing this, it helps the right customers to discover your story through a simple Google search.
Sales people should also know this story by heart so that they can weave it into all of their conversations with retailers or other buyers. The more they can tell the story to the people who will sell the product directly to consumers, the more likely it is that the story will catch on and get told behind the bar or in the liquor store. In this instance, we always recommend keeping it simple since it’s sort of like a game of telephone. While it may be absolutely correct on first telling by the fourth or fifth time someone’s told the story, it might start to evolve.
No matter where the story is being told, as long as it’s honest, exciting and touching, it will reach customers and be the reason they want to buy a bottle. So the story is a very important piece of the puzzle and one that we here at High-Proof Creative have a lot of experience writing. Give us a call if you need a hand piecing the narrative together.
Written by: Clare Goggin Sivits – High-Proof Creative
