According to Diddy, hip-hop mogul and spokesperson for Ciroc, big smiles are not smooth-certainly not as smooth as Ciroc. Over the past three years with his affiliation with Ciroc, the brand has grown 552 percent and beat out Belvedere as the second place ranked vodka in the ultra-premium category. Diddy sees 50 percent of sales,-6.8 million for the brand’s 2010 financial year-up 41 percent from 2009. Ciroc has been able to use Diddy’s fame and clever marketing tactics to help consumers rationalize buying a $30.00 bottle of vodka, and has even made itself the “Official Vodka of New Year’s Eve.”
The folks at Wodka, cheaper more straightforward alternative, are hoping to change the consumers’ perception of top shelf vodka having to cost top-shelf prices. Selling for $8.99 a bottle, Wodka receives $1.00 in profit for every unit sold. They are able to make money with low overhead, production based on quality instead of bottle-design, and straight to the point advertising.
The tag line of Wodka also speaks to its wallet-friendly reputation, “Hamptons Quality, Newark Pricing.” It is currently ranked as the number one choice in its category considering price and quality from the Beverage Testing Institute.
“The so-called Grey Goose Effect is dead and buried,” said James Dale, President of Panache Imports, the North American distributor of Wodka. “The age of overpaying-50 dollars for a liter-are over. With Wodka we hope to start a trend that forces other brands to restore honest pricing to this segment.”
