Founded in 2013 by serial beverage entrepreneurs, Blue Duck Vodka and Black Robin Gin were designed from birth to be New Zealand's most premium spirits in their category. Luxury spirits require luxury branding, I was brought on from inception as a founding member to craft these products into marketable, world-class brands. During my two-year tenure, the products won eighteen international awards, signed over 500 stockists, and launched into five international markets.
18 International Product Awards
Discover
Setting objectives.
Simply Pure’s objective was simple - to produce the world’s most pure, rare, and sustainable super-premium spirits. With an ex-advertising exec at the helm, we worked extensively pre-launch developing the business, strategic, and marketing plans. The business was founded with some core objectives in mind:
01 Address the market gap of luxury spirits made in New Zealand.
02 Capitalize on New Zealand's global reputation for producing the world's most premium and pure consumable products.
03 Be the leader in the category of 'sustainable luxury' - premium goods that champion eco-consumerism.
Strategy first.
Establishing a premium brand cache was crucial to the success of the products. I worked with the CEO prior to launch to develop brand profiles for both products to guide our strategic positioning - as shown below.
Define
Two brands, one vision.
The company took a stance in championing eco-consumerism and thus targeted discerning drinkers with a conscience. To follow through on this brand promise a strategic partnership was formed with 'The Royal Forets and Bird Society of New Zealand'. A percentage of every bottle sold was then donated to them to help protect wild places and endangered species.
Ideate
The art of nature.
The sophisticated user-base called for elegant branding, so we established the ‘art of nature’ as our core brand pillar. As well as produce marketing collateral myself, I managed a team of contractors to help execute the vision, including graphic artists, copywriters, photographers, and mixologists. Both art, nature, and exceptional products came together to create a truly compelling brand experience across all touchpoints.
Implement
Experiential marketing.
To deliver a truly compelling brand experience we partnered with premium establishments and events - 'The Birds' took off. I helped establish strategic partnerships with premium brands and events such as New Zealand Fashion Week, New Zealand Polo Open, Jaguar, and The Ritz Carlton in China, to name a few.
Local darling, global hit.
Within two years the brands were a local darling selling into high-end retailers through-out New Zealand, were listed with duty-free outlets in three international airports, and were exported into five international markets. To support this we rolled-out print media campaigns, launched two websites, created bottle displays, as well as branded merchandise for events.
Evaluate
Recapping objectives.
01 Address the market gap of premium spirits made in New Zealand.
02 Create the highest-quality products in their category in the world.
03 Be the leader in a category of premium goods that champion eco-consumerism called 'sustainable luxury'.
The business impact.
There were some incredibly exciting milestones that were clear indicators that we had achieved what we set out to do with the product. Combined 'The Birds' won over 18 international product awards, including three double-golds, with Blue Duck Vodka also being voted in the 'Worlds Ten Best Vodkas' by shortlist.com in 2016.
The local market embraced the brands, along with five international export markets opening up. In many ways, this business embodied the classic entrepreneurial story, with cashflow being the biggest challenge. Early, rapid growth into international markets was exciting but required a significant investment. In retrospect, a more manageable sales strategy in the first three years would have seen us focus on fewer markets with a deep, not wide distribution strategy.
Eco-consumerism - the take out.
In regards to championing eco-consumerism, we found that this made for elegant branding, but created less competitive-edge and incentive-to-purchase than we had anticipated. It was effective in that the company did donate over $70,000 towards the Royal Forest and Bird Association of New Zealand to help protect wild creatures and places. And we were authentically engaged with this community, helping generate awareness to a new generation of consumers through our marketing campaigns.
A premium experience.
Being part of the project from inception and helping to build the company from the ground-up was a masterclass in brand and business strategy. I learned hands-on how vital it is that product, brand, and business work in unison to achieve success. The experience of working for a start-up has given me the insight to foresee issues with strategy and operations, in order to act ahead of time to guide the team and project towards the best outcome. I left the company in 2016 to move to Canada. Creatively, this was a dream project to work on, and I’m incredibly proud of what our small and feisty team built with passion and determination, mixed with some grit and charisma.
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