Shaping one spirits proposition for different palates

The question

A spirits company had a new proposition in development, meant to recruit new drinkers to its brand while staying close to what its loyal drinkers knew.

Its liquid, pack, name and concept were all still open, and it would go into four markets in two regions, each with its own palate and serving rituals. There was no fixed product to test, only a proposition to shape, and every element had to work with the others in every market.

Our approach

We heard from drinkers of other spirits alongside the category’s own drinkers, because they were the people the proposition was meant to bring in.

Drinkers tasted it neat and mixed, among friends and one to one, and working sessions with the client team between markets took each round back into the formulas, packs and concept wording, so every market met a sharper proposition. A quantitative taste test in each market measured what the conversations had taken forward, with liquid, pack and concept read together.

What the team came away with

By the final market, every element of the proposition had been through several rounds in drinkers’ hands.

The brand team had topline debriefs for each market and a final wrap-up with recommendations on the liquid, pack, name and concept, serve guidance, and thought-starters for communication territories. The client’s wider teams were taken through the work too, so the people taking the proposition forward started from the same evidence.

Liquid, pack, name and concept could each be settled on evidence from all four markets, qualitative and quantitative read together, with concept wording already adapted for each market’s drinkers.