The New Flavoured Smirnoff! Miam!

This is the two new flavoured vodka of Smirnoff: Fluffed and Whipped. And the more interesting is to see the advertising campaign. The great buzz again: with video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBnID_Ty78A&feature=player_embedded

and a lot of prints who definitely show the positioning of Smirnoff:
High-quality
Premium
Trendy
Completely young

Here are some other photos about the campaign:

References: http://www.facebook.com/Smirnoff?ref=ts

The Communication Strength of Smirnoff

Here is a link to access to the video of the last Smirnoff Party with a special guest... Madonna!!! and the DJ Martin Solveig.

http://www.madonnafrance.com/Videos/video-smirnoff.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=k8VpbG3AADg

Greaaaat Buzz!

Another evidence of the marketing power of Smirnoff!

But they love having stron spokesperson. Do you remember some references like that? Me, yes. A famous long-term brand placement in James Bond. It is an old and strong partnership, from "Docteur No" to "Quantum of Solace".

Smirnoff Brand Positioning

Brand Identity Prism of Smirnoff

· The Brand Core

Smirnoff core consumers support an active social life after work or study time, during week-ends. It could be special event or usual party activity. People gather in mixed groups and enjoy live.

· The Brand Style

Smirnoff, like people who have party all over the world in a company of the brand, is assumed as trendy, smart, knowledgeable, Internet is an integral part of lifestyle. It is aware of international trends. It is easy-going, stylish, fashionable. It comes to people’s life easily and bring happiness and a sense of holiday and liberation of everyday duties.

· The Brand Theme

The main massage, which Smirnoff gives to the customers, is a call to get together and have fun, free their minds and be apart of usual life. Whereas he provides idea of being intelligence, trendy, easygoing.

Based on information from research people go out from one to two times a week and they drink alcoholic drinks. From 100% of respondents 22% prefer wine but in the same time, vodka takes 11% of preferences. On the third place of popularity is beer.

More than 90% assume that vodka is a prevalent drink in France and about 70% of respondents highlight Smirnoff is the most popular vodka brand. According to research, a customer chooses quality of the vodka, when he/she buys it, then brand and price.

I can conclude, that vodka Smirnoff is a wide spread spirit along with wine. Smirnoff Brand values for respondents are first of all libration. Everybody wants to break routine and get relieved from daily life. Secondly it is boldness – people assume spirit drink with red logotype like something what challenges, call to follow it and succeed. On the third is versatility. Depends on occasion, mood, company and many other circumstances Smirnoff can be different. It can take various personalities from tough man to sometimes flirting woman in red short dress. It also may be like pure drink as well as in various cocktails. People may share it in club, dancing, charting, listening to music, or at a home party, or on the business event.

All this diversity but in the same time simplicity and accessibility let Smirnoff be close to the people, to be more understandable and desirable. Though, sometimes there is a risk to confused the previous emotions and experience with other brands. One of the main competitor is Absolut Vodka, which along with Smirnoff one of the well-known spirits brand.

However, Smirnoff is a global brand and people all over the world know and love it. Smirnoff makes not only advertising campaigns, but also special events, sponsorships, etc. People estimate Smirnoff and and it reciprocates.

Smirnoff brand’s System (Kapferer’s System)

ESSENCE

Let’s have party together

PERSONALITY

Male, he is a friend-joker, a soul of the company, he knows a lot of anecdotes, free and easy to communicate, he probably wont miss a party, easy-going. Though in the same time mature and experienced.

VALUES OF USERS

Taste, experience, price

EMOTIONAL REWARD

Joyfulness, pleasure, holiday is everywhere

EMOTIONAL BENEFITS

Sense of community, sense of celebration occasionally as well as usually, wonderful mood

ATTRIBUTES

Pure, strong, combined with various alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, is included in wide range of cocktails

Madonna and Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange

Smirnoff with Madonna jointly launched Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project which aim is to ask revelers all over the world to share advises about the nightlife in their city. The idea is to collect information concerning distinct night life spending. It could be everything: dance, fashion, music or something else.

This partnership includes the singer, , the concert promoter Live Nation and the vodka's owner Diageo. The brand Smirnoff marketing campaign costs £6 000 000 and is lead in 50 countries in order to target 10 000 000 people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWlXbZZ3ALA

In November 25, in at New York's Roseland Ballroom there was a final of dancing competition, which was judged by the Queen of pop. She chose a winner - Tennessee-born Lil Buck who will go with Madonna to her next tour. Madonna described this evening as “my idea of a perfect evening” and invited her new dancer to join her posse in the ballroom's VIP section for a group boogie.

Madonna in £6m Smirnoff drive to find best nightlife. Marketing Week, August 25, 2011

Benchmark of the 10 brand components of Smirnoff and its key Competiitors

Here is a diagram about the 10 brand components for Smirnoff but also for three main competitors:
Absolut Vodka
Eristoff
Sobieski

Absolut is the best one and win a lot of shares in consumers' minds but also in term of sales since its re-buying in 2008 by Pernod-Ricard.
Eristoff is novative and trendy, it has a problem to clearly target young people. The main message is, the strong experience and also the wild side of this brand of vodka ("the vodka that comes from the wolves' country").
Unfortunately, Sobiesky has a lack of visibility for young customers. It is not a reflex brand. When they think vodka, they do not think about Sobieski. Though, it has strong references and good global results. It is the 7th vodka brand in the world and it won the Beverage Tasting Institute prize  in 2007 in vodka category. But it is a young brand in France (2006) compared to Smirnoff, Eristoff or Absolut. But in few years, it could be a good competitor.

References
http://www.smirnoff.com/en-us/
www.vodkasobieski.com/
www.eristoff.com/index.php
www.eristoff-black.fr/
www.absolut.com/fr

So, for more details, you can see the diagram. We used different colours:

Smirnoff

Absolut

Eristoff

Sobieski

The Power Top 100

The Power 100 was created 6 years ago in order to monitor a brand’s power of the world's leading spirits and wine. During these years The Top 100 is valued as an industry benchmark of performance and recognizing brands. The aim of theis award to evaluate the level of brand’s activitiy. There are special rates which a

ssess each brand’s strengths and weaknesses, showing exclusively what is the best on the world market of spirits and wine brands.

For every brand to reach The Power Brand status is a great achievement. There are more than 10 000 spirits and wine brands in the world, but only 100 the strongest can be influential and drive the world. Those brand have the

name “Power Brand”.

Smirnoff brand for a long time keeps the leading positions even though it looses its value. According to The Power 100, the king continues to fall. The worlds largest spirits brand and the biggest vodka by over double the size of its nearest competitor continued its decline this year, with its total score down 5% on top of a 3% decline the previous year. Smirnoff's 1% volume decline and 4% value decline is symptomatic of its 'middle of the road' positioning.

The First 10 Leaders of The Power 100:

1. Smirnoff

2. Bacardi

3. Johnnie Waiker

4. Martini Vermouth

5. Absolut

6. Jack Daniel's

7. Hennessy

8. Chivas Regai

9. Captain Morgan

10. Ballantines

The Smirnoffs main competitor - Absolut is in the Top 5 in it is rapidly gaining the market share. But still it is The Power Brand.

The Power Top 100 report was made by Intangible Business - UK-based global brand valuation firm. Stuart Whitwell, joint managing director of Intangible Business, noticed, that according the report there is a tendency of increase in the drinking sector for the reason of the emerging markets in Central and Eastern Europe, China and other Asian markets. He emphasized: “The world has clearly changed following the recession with the balance of power shifting further east. No Chinese or Asian brands have yet made it into the top 100 but with the big groups increasing their presence there it is only a matter of time”. Whitwell also added, that consumers have also been exposed to and experimented with more value-orientated brands, developing a wider repertoire of options rather than sticking to the old favourites. He thinks, that while many of the big brands have been able to withstand much of this pressure there are signs that times are changing. “There are interesting times ahead”, said Whitwell.

References:

http://www.drinkspowerbrands.com

POWER 100 NAMES TOP ALCOHOL BRANDS. National Liquor News [serial
online]. June 2011;30(5):9. Available from: Business Source Complete,
Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 12, 2011.

What is your favorite vodka brand? :)

I did a little survey through to Facebook about the favorite vodka of my panel.

And as other larger studies  showed it, Smirnoff is not the favorite vodka brand. 26.1% voted for Absolut Vodka, 19.6% for Eristoff and Poliakov and only 10.9% for Smirnoff.
Why? If I compare my study and other wider surveys, we can see that people prefer Absolut and overall Zubrowka because of its particular taste and colour (Zubrowka is flavoured with buffalo grass). In my study, a lot of people voted for Eristoff and Poliakov because my panel has a small bias... They are young poeple and this category of drinkers consumes vokda with some juices,soda, energy drinks... and those two brands are prefect for it: cheap and without a strong taste characteristic.
But, strangely, Smirnoff is the bestselling brand of vodka, why?
We will see it in a next post...

The real nature of the brand

Here is a part about the values, the colours... In brief, what Smirnoff represents.

1. Shape, colour, duration:

-          Shape and colour:

The shape is a long 0.70L bottle. For some special case, the bottle can have a different design and the colour can vary according to the vodka. But the basic colours are red and silver.

-          The logo:

Smirnoff actual logo

We have two silver crowned eagles and a red banner written Smirnoff in capital letters. It is a nice mix of colour, combined with a modern design (former logo was not like that) to attract the eyes of the customers, overall young people. The flying eagles means the movement, vodka that goes higher, that is the best. The crown is here to symbolize the quality of the vodka. The red colour represents the strength and the old-fashion banner, the strong and old story of Smirnoff, its old tradition and everlasting experience. The silver colour is also a symbol of purity.

Smirnoff former logo

-          Duration:

Smirnoff exists for more than 150 years so it is a very old and experienced brand. But its last steps began in 1997 when Diageo acquired the brand. Diageo benefited from the past experience of Smirnoff and its team and also, improved it with its own background.  Before the Second World War, the brand suffered from some local regulations but globally, nothing was able to stop its forward pass. And Diageo perpetuated and accentuated it with its strong advertising campaigns. In French vodka market, we can say that Smirnoff is an everlasting brand; it was the first great vodka brand that has penetrated the French market. And Smirnoff stays the first vodka seller in France today.

1. Value, frequency of purchase, packaging

-          Value:

Smirnoff has a strong value. For customers, Smirnoff is high quality vodka, premium vodka. When you drink Smirnoff vodkas, you expect freshness, quality, and tasty vodka. You want good flavours and diversity. Drinking Smirnoff is trendy and a moment to share. So, Smirnoff represents also the sociability. You consume it in community. It is a vodka that gives a feeling of belonging. People appreciate Smirnoff for itself, for its intrinsic quality, compared to other vodkas drunk diluted with juice.

Smirnoff is seen as pure because of the quality of the vodkas distilled, but also as authentic because Smirnoff uses always the same techniques and apparels like in the past, in order to maintain the same taste and quality. Smirnoff is also defined as creative and avant-gardist because, Smirnoff is always innovating to find new flavours and to stay singular. It stays also a symbol of its native country, Russia. The Smirnoff team trys to put it forward regularly.

-          Frequency of purchase:

Diageo sells one Smirnoff bottle each six seconds.

-          Packaging:

It is a transparent 0.70L bottle with a sticker on it, with different colours depending of the Smirnoff vodka you buy. That is the same for the stopper. For example, the dominant colour will be red if you buy a Smirnoff n°21 and black if you buy a Smirnoff n°55. For different occasions, the design of the packaging can change, for example for a special event (Christmas, partnership with movie). But globally, the bottle stays the same for all basic and flavoured vodkas.

References:

www.diageo.com



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smirnoff

http://www.smirnoff.com/en-us/

Empirical Study on Vodka Price in a Supermarket

In this part, we will talk about the competitors on the vodka market in France and also about other competitive dry alcohols.

1.       Main Direct Competitors of Smirnoff:

Here are the main challengers in France
                                            a. Common Vodka:

Eristoff  
Minkova
Orloff
Poliakov 
Sobieski                                

Wiborowa

b. Premium Vodka:

  Absolut Vodka

  Russian Standart
  Smirnoff

  Stolichnaya
  Zubrowka

           




                                        c. Super & Ultra Premium:

Belvedere Cîroc Dragon Bleu Grey Goose Ketel One Nuage Premium

              

To be concrete in term of product, I did an empirical price study at Géant Casino for the 0.70L bottle for basic and premium vodka:

Brand	Retailer brand	Minkova	Poliakov	Sobieski	Eristoff	Orloff	Wyborowa	Smirnoff	Russian Standart	Zubrowka	Absolut
Price	6,5€	10€	10,23€	10,47€	11,13€	12,20€	12,80€	13,63€	14,72€	15,99€	16,71€

Average market price: 12,22€

2.       Indirect competitors (whiskeys, gins, tequilas, rhums…):

For a maximum 14€ budget, what other dry alcohols can I have (alternative to vodka)?

Whiskey	William Peels	James Dowell	Label 5	Grant’s	Long John	Old Virginia	Ballantines	J&B
Price	10,66€	10,92€	10,99€	10,99€	11,37€	13,99€	13,99€	14,28€

Rum	Old Nick	Negrita	Charette	Dillon	Saint James	Bacardi
Price	8,73€	9€	9,24€	11,99€	12,55€	15,69€

Tequila	Merida	San Jose
Price	11,99€	14,23€

Others	Gibson Gin	Get 27	Gordon London Dry Gin	Basic Cognac
Price	9,99€	12,50€	12,85€	At least 14,5€

So, Smirnoff is over the average price and is considered as top range vodka like Absolut Vodka or Zubrowka. But for a premium vodka, it is affordable, more than 2€ under Zubrowka, a very famous polish vodka well known for its good taste and characteristic colour. They are quietly installed in the middle of the price range. And it is the same thing if we compare with some other dry alcohol drinks like Whiskey, Tequila, and Rum. If you want a good rum like Saint-James or Bacardi, Smirnoff is in this price interval, between 13€ and 16€. And Smirnoff vodka is also at a competitive price compared with common whiskeys (Old Virginia, Ballantines, J&B, between 11 and 14.5€ or Clan Campbell and Four Roses which are at 16-17€). We can think Smirnoff pricing is well adapted face to its main competitors on the French vodka market and globally, on the dry alcohol market.

Reference:

Personal empirical study in the Angoulême Géant Casino Supermarket