Southern Comfort’s Next Chapter — Does the new ad work?

Southern Comfort has launched the next chapter in the “Whatever’s Comfortable” campaign that I have been following for about a year (Aug14 and Dec19, 2012 as well as Jan 17, 2013). So far, according to Brown Forman, sales trends have turned around by 6% and the brand grew for the first time since 2008.

This latest effort marks a change in character from the original award winning effort, “Beaches,” which featured an interesting, everyday guy comfortable in his own skin as he casually walks down the beach. Here is the original.

The new ad execution has a different character but the same attitude. “We want to champion consumers to ‘be their awesome selves’ and that attitude comes out through this work,” said Mark Bacon, SVP, Managing Director, Southern Comfort. “We’re comfortable being Southern Comfort and we want our consumers to embody that same attitude about themselves.”

Here’s the ad by Wieden + Kennedy. I enjoyed the original ad a great deal but this one works for me as well.

What do you think? (You can also find it here.)

 

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Want to start your own liquor company?

Go to Moonshine University. Really.

glasses

If you’re interested in becoming a chef you might consider the Culinary Institute of America, so why not a school to teach you the craft of making liquor. Well, there is such a school. It’s part of Distilled Spirits Epicenter and you can find the website here.

So, the first stop in becoming the next booze business tycoon is the school.

Next, they have a number of different businesses to help the wannabe craft distiller. One is called Grease Monkey Distillery, which is designed for use by everyone from entrepreneurs to industry experts, and is equipped to distill spirits of all kinds. Kind of like a do-it-yourself still using state of the art equipment.

bottling line

What good is an outstanding, crafted liquid without a vessel to put it in? Well, then avail yourself of Challenge Bottling. It is a highly

flexible bottling line that is versatile enough to handle smaller production runs, challenging projects, and various packaging requirements. In other words, they are contract bottlers.

Let’s go back to Moonshine U. No, they don’t teach you to find a remote spot in the woods, set up a still, cook the mash and drive like hell to outrun the revenuers.

cookerInstead, they have a fairly comprehensive 5-day program that I think is impressive. The curriculum runs from learning the fundamentals, to the production of rum, whiskey, vodka and gin, as well as general management covering all aspect of marketing, sales and distribution. It isn’t cheap folks ($5,500) but I’m guessing it’s well worth the money.

mashAside from the aspiring liquor moguls, the school is a good place for marketing and sales people to learn about the liquor business and see more of the production landscape. At Seagram, we had such a program at the Lawrenceburg KY plant, which was very popular. Absolut had one in a town called Åhus, Sweden, which was both educational and afforded the opportunity to eat herring. (Hey, don’t laugh it was world-class herring.)

Seriously, this is a very worthwhile endeavor in the heart of the Kentucky. Distilled Spirits Epicenter has an endorsement by virtue of its membership in the Kentucky Distillers’ Association as the group’s first-ever Educational Distillery member.

About the only thing they don’t do is teach you how to get lucky and produce a winner. That’s up to you.

 

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Do different types of liquor have different effects on you?

liquor bottles 2Fact or fiction? Physiological or psychological?

What do you think?

I’ve been researching this topic lately and have been thinking about it ever since I got into the booze business.

When you talk to consumers, many have clear cut answers such as, “tequila makes me crazy,” “whiskey makes me angry,” “gin makes me sad, must be the junipers.” My favorite, that I found online, is… “I’m allergic to tequila. Last time I drank it, I broke out in handcuffs.”

Whether in focus groups or with friends, these beliefs are strongly held and generally tied back to a memorable occasion. Usually, it’s based on a particular episode of, ahem, being over-served or the maiden drinking voyage. But, misconceptions play a big role – there is nothing in juniper to lead to sadness and even if there were, the distillation process would eliminate it. Similarly, the agave plant from which mescal is distilled (tequila is a type of mescal) has nothing to do with mescaline.Alcohol is alcohol

Sorry folks, alcohol is alcohol. The differences one experiences from different types of liquor (and alcohol in general) have, in my opinion, little or nothing to do with the liquor itself. There are many other factors at work.

What about the congeners (the substance produced during fermentation of alcoholic beverages)? While red wine and dark spirits have the greatest amount, they are present to different degrees in white spirits. They also are more related to the morning after than getting you to slur, “I love you man” during an evening’s indulgence.

How about the mixers used as a possible explanation for the difference? Tequila is consumed as a shot half the time and with sugar laden margarita mixers the other half – do these play a role? Rum mixed with juices, sugar or cola can affect the impact. Maybe it’s the tonic in your G&T.

I think the culprit is the mood, occasion and situation you are in while drinking. If you’re planning to get hammered, or the situation calls for it, you will. If it’s been a tough day and you’re looking to unwind and mellow, what you choose to drink will have that result.

mixedSo, in effect, it’s in your mind rather than in your glass or bottle.

Here’s something that sums it up. I found it online at io9, a blog by Gawker media:

…The question of whether mixers or congeners affect our experiences with different alcohols seems almost inconsequential; if you wholeheartedly believe that a tequila is your one way ticket to Bedlam, there’s probably not a whole lot that can be said to convince you – or your body – otherwise.

What do you think?

 

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