Gillette have a new innovation and no they haven’t just added another blade to their latest razor. Instead it appears that either they have found a touch of ironic humour and are responding to industry ribbing (like mine) or the recent increase in competition from Wilkinson Sword and King of Shaves has prompted them into the need to do more than normal.

The headline on the ad I saw read “We could have launched with 1 new innovation. We chose to deliver 7 all at-once” - hardly a belly laugh but certainly enough for a wry smile from those in the industry.

More seriously while it is easy to make some fun of their approach, which can seem a little simplistic, Gillette’s innovation strategy has been highly effective. They have continuously incrementally improved their core offer, normally in two stages. Stage one: the aforementioned increase in the number of blades. Stage two: a further upgrading of the shaving experinece (more lubrication, etc). Normally this second stage is a further one or two improvements, this time it’s seven. The result of this on-going strategy is that they have slowly and steadily uptraded men to pay much more for ‘the best they can get’.  Simultaneously they have also extended the brand beyond its original core in razors into the wider world of men’s personal care and made a good job of that too.

Interesting to compare this with Wilkinson Sword who, 25 or 30 years ago, were sitting in a similar position as  a leading brand in razors. For their brand extension strategy  they chose to extend along the theme of sharp blades into gardening, the kitchen and the home.   Now just imagine what would have happened had Gillette done that – a spade with 5 blades!

Steve Jobs has rightly been praised and lauded for his many fantatstic achievement but I would like to nominate him for one more very small award – the most quoatble quote on innovation. For a number of years the award has been held by Henry Ford with his witty and nowadays widely used observation that “If I had asked my customers what they had wanted, they would have told me a faster horse”. However the man linked forever with the Apple Mac, the i-pod, i-tunes, the i-phone and Pixar, who has been compared to Edison, once said, “It’s really hard to design by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them” and I have a feeling that we are going to be seeing those words an awful lots over the next few years.

Other nominations gratefully received.

Call me old-fashioned, but I am not convinced that an ad slogan based on “try me” or “I’m the best” can work effectively for a premium spirits brand. This may have some impact with low-end repertoire products, but as you move up the price range, consumers need a more convincing and precise argument, be it rational (70% ABV) or emotional (Johnnie Walker’s ‘Keep walking’).

The ad that surprised me and some of my colleagues was a new campaign by Russian Standard vodka. My colleague spotted a cinema ad last week, part of the same campaigns I had seen on a bill board in central London a few weeks ago.

The brand is not new to the UK market, but what is surprising is that both, the cinema ad and the billboard, were working pretty much at “try me” awareness-building level. There was not much of a focus on “authentic Russian heritage and unparalleled smoothness” as was mentioned a few years earlier. In fact, the reasons to believe were not particularly clear – except for Russianness itself…

The Russianness of the brand is clearly supported by the name, but is it enough? It might be quite tough to convince consumers in the UK that the Russian vodka is the proper vodka, when French and even British brands articulate their refined products and while bars and shops are well stocked with varieties of vodka and liqueurs from Poland!

Therefore, it leaves me with two unanswered questions: what makes a proper vodka and what else, apart from the obvious Russianness, can bring success in fighting the Zubrowkas, Absolutes and Smirnoffs of the UK market?

News came from Marketing magazine’s website last week that Drambuie is to launch a premium edition into the UK market. Drambuie 15 will target ‘discerning malt whisky drinkers’ and has a drier taste than its other products.

According to First Drinks’ Spirits & Champagne 2011 market report, sales of premium spirits have increased by 11% in the past year to £202m in the off-trade and £234 million in the on-trade.

So what’s behind the rise in sales? While it’s impossible to pinpoint exact causes, here are three factors that may be helping to drive the category…

The search for Total Basket VFM

One of the big developments we’re seeing at The Value Engineers is a shift in the way consumers are shopping for their food & drink. Brand is no longer king across the categories, and ‘value’ brands are a far cry from the downmarket, low quality alternatives as which they were once perceived. Instead, consumers are looking for ‘total basket VFM’ (value for money), mixing and matching premium and value brands. It’s a phenomenon that our sister agency, Leapfrog Research, called ‘spectrum shopping’ in a recent report for Marketing Week.

The recession has forced shoppers to recognise which brands they’ll trade down on. As a result, they’re buying more budget brands and compromising on the everyday – in order to free up spend for the two or three brands that really matter to them. It’s behaviour that benefits the premium spirit brands, as these brands have worked hard to persuade their consumers of their unique benefits and ‘statement brand’ position.

In the  same way that John Lewis has seen sales soar in the classic recessionary purchases of lipsticks and cushions, as consumers look to refresh their look or their décor without substantial spend, so the high-end spirits brands offer consumers a premier option with associated cues of quality and indulgence, at a relatively small price premium.

A new type of status brand

Since the financial crash, we’ve seen a backlash among younger professionals against über-consumption and ‘massification’. This has has led to a new type of status brand emerging: one that’s niche rather than mainstream, and not immediately recognised by those outside its fan base. Think of Chase’s Marmalade Vodka, or Sipsmith, which has deliberately positioned itself with a more niche, artisanal focus:

“We hand craft our spirits in tiny batches of around two hundred bottles, with skill, care and an almost fetishistical love.”

A desire for ‘statement’ drinks

Finally, premium spirits have successfully promoted themselves to consumers as ‘statement’ drinks – brands that demonstrate their customers’ knowledge and expertise, or more sophisticated palate. Look at the recent surge in consumers buying premium tequila in pubs, with brands such as Cazadores or Silver Patron becoming the symbol of sophistication that we once saw in Perrier Jouet or a martini. Such brands are seen as a smoother, higher quality drink than their value cousins, giving a clear justification to consumers looking to trade up at point of sale.

Of course, the three factors I’ve identified are only a part of the wider picture: the brands that sit within the category can also claim credit. In my next blog, I’ll look at some of the ways in which premium spirits are encouraging consumers to trade up. In the meantime - cheers!

The departure of Steve Jobs has been headline news, not just on the marketing websites and blogs, but for most mainstream news outlets too. It is already inspiring jokes and anecdotes like this one which I heard on the BBC this morning:

“Following the resignation of Steve Jobs, Apple have announced the launch of a new app, it’s called i-quit”

It does however raise a really important marketing question – what happens when your brand is closely tied to a particular individual and that individual leaves?

History and experience suggests it can be a pivotal point in any brand’s history: does the brand move on seamlessly or lose its way, lacking the vision and direction provided by that individual?

Think of the experiences of brands like Disney, Chanel, Walmart and Pierre Cardin and you can see there is no one automatic consequence. Quite the contrary: different brands cope with varying degrees of ease or difficulty. Some move on quickly while others have gone into the doldrums for years, even decades, before turning themselves around.

Rather than repeating the cases, we thought it might be good to think about the lessons those cases teach us and what ‘best practice’ might be for brands in a similar situation (say Virgin or Dyson). Our 3 top tips are:

• Recognise that this, unfortunately, is going to be a problem at some point – nobody lives forever. To paraphrase an old quote; “The first responsibility of a good manager is to plan their replacement.” Start working on it now – don’t wait for it to happen (and it is worth noting that Steve Jobs and Apple have made those plans).
• Don’t get hung up on what that individual (often the founder) actually did rather focus on their beliefs and values. In this way the brand can preserve its core culture and philosophy (its DNA) but can simultaneously stimulate the change and growth it will need in a world that doesn’t ever stop changing.
• Translate those personal characteristics and beliefs into your brand values and behaviours. Brands that have successfully managed the transition still often use the strategies, sayings and beliefs as guiding values and principles. In Disney they still often ask “What would Uncle Walt have thought?”.

 Enjoyed this? Please read the follow-on blog