Gift packaging

We've always thought our brand lends itself to gift giving, and as I've been canvassing people I've been getting a strong indication that our audience agrees.  We've toyed with the idea of creating a gift box, but the expense (both for the design, and for the production) are pretty high.  Our bottle is so pretty that one retailer told me to just put it in cellophane bags with a gorgeous ribbon.  She pointed out that we want our bottle (and any accompanying gift, if we do that) to be easily seen.

And the winner is . . . .?

After polling over 45 people, the results are in: over  2/3's went for one of these finalists.  To see which one, stay tuned for our launch :-).

Misleading label?

While I'm so focused on liquor labels, this came across my computer -- Tito's Vodka is being sued in a class action lawsuit, which claims the label is inaccurate:

This is a class action case brought on behalf of all purchasers of all vodka (“Vodka”) manufactured, distributed, marketed, and/or sold by FIFTH DIMENSION, INC. dba Tito’s Handmade Vodka (hereinafter “TITO’S”). Through a fraudulent, unlawful, deceptive and unfair course of conduct, TITO’S, and DOES 1 through 100 (collectively “Defendants”), manufactured, marketed, and/or sold their “TITO’S HANDMADE” Vodka to the California general public with the false representation that the Vodka was “handmade” when, in actuality, the Vodka is made via a highly-mechanized process that is devoid of human hands. There is simply nothing “handmade” about the Vodka, under any definition of the term,1 because the Vodka is: (1) made from commercially manufactured “neutral grain spirit” (“NGS”) that is trucked and pumped into TITO’s industrial facility; (2) distilled in a large industrial complex with modern, technologically advanced stills; and (3) produced and bottled in extremely large quantities (i.e., it is “mass produced”). - See more at: http://www.bevlaw.com/bevlog/#sthash.gdNOuFi7.dpuf

I am happy to say that every single word on our label is true :-)

This also illustrates one of my theories:  it is very hard -- perhaps impossible -- for a small, artisinal, farm distillery-type brand to scale up.  By definition such a brand has to be small as it is impossible to be handcrafted and also produced on a large scale.

label update

We are continuing to work on the label and are getting very close to being done.  We've narrowed the four photographs down to two finalists.  They are very different!  Alex has done a mock up of bottles with both versions and I'm going around and polling my friends (because they fit our customer profile).  With only preliminary results in the voting is 50 -50 between the two pictures.  I suppose this means we can't go wrong!

Art on the label, part 2

Besides nailing down the photograph, we're working on hiring an artist for our label too.  We've narrowed the list down to two artists, both of which are interested in the job.  Both women.  Very hard choice.

And again, the law degree comes in handy

We've selected four finalists for the label photograph, and today I'm drafting the contract for the purchase of rights.

Article on launching new drinks

Here's the link

Highlights include:

One important thing to keep in mind is value, according to Larry Levin, executive vice president for industry insights at IRI. Consumers are willing to pay more for products they find valuable and that make their lives better.

“New product innovation is truly at the heart of consumer demand,” he said. “Value doesn’t mean cheap, value means making my life better.”

And:

According to Levin, coffee and tea and beer, wine and spirits take the top two spots among categories driving sales in consumer packaged goods, and consumers don’t care whether new beverage products come from big or small companies as long as they meet their demand.

“New product launches are for anybody and everybody who’s listening to the hearts and minds of consumers,” he said.

And another thing about our label

You may not be surprised to learn that we will have a flower photograph on the label.  Even though there are literally MILLIONS of photos of this particular flower on the internet, there are very few that have the look we are going for.

We hired a photo researcher who's come up with some contenders, and we've found an amazing photo on Facebook (from a friend of a friend's -- who, it must be said, is a successful fashion photographer).

Alex is coming up with a short list, and we'll be picking the one that is perfect for us within the week.