Friday, October 26, 2012

Will a 2-D character named Wit Oddoski convince you to try grass-flavored Vodka?


We already know that Gen Y craves variety in their alcoholic beverages and that companies are responding by creating all sorts of interesting flavored options.  Here’s a blog from last May about MillerCoors introduction of Coco Breve for Gen Y women.
But as someone who has been struggling with allergies for several weeks now I can’t help wonder if Pernod Richard missed their mark with this one.  In addition to the fresh cut grass flavor, the line includes apple pie, salty caramel popcorn, wasabi and electricity.  No, I don’t know what electricity tastes like.  But according to the company it tickles the taste buds.
The campaign for the new line called Oddka, which features a 2-D character named Wit Oddoski is scheduled to run on Facebook and Twitter and includes an iTune app that has something to do with growing a virtual mustache. (Schultz, 2012)
So what do you think?  Will you try it? 

Schultz, E. (2012, October 24)  Pernod’s New Vodka Brand Includes ‘Fresh Cut Grass’ Spirits Industry Pushing Flavor Boundaries All the Way to Front Lawn.  adage.com.  Retrieved October 25, 2012, from

6 comments:

John Sherman said...

I am a purist when it comes to alcohol. I will always pass on flavored liquors of any kind. Granted, I am not in the target demographic for this product. However, I don't believe the popularity of these specialty vodka lines solely depends on taste. If Oddka is able to brand itself as "fashionable" they will have the foundation to launch a campaign within the nightlife market. It's obvious that by selling these kinds of flavors they are not interested in attracting formal vodka drinkers. Also, the design of the bottle fashions itself like an easily identifiable "accessory" when you're in a club. It's a way to show off to the rest of the crowd what you're drinking for the evening.

I've noticed Ciroc has been successful using this style of marketing.

Anonymous said...

I don't drink vodka, that's way I wouldn't buy or try it. But Oddka is doing a good job in creating intrigue. I think that many Gen Y will try it just for intrigue of knowing how "electricity" taste. In addition, the character that they create will collaborate a lot with all the intrigue and will build a "perfect" image for the brand.

Jasmine

Eunjee Kim said...

I usually don't enjoy drinking alcohol but I will try it because I'm a very curious person. And I think it's very interesting and humorous. Maybe some of another curious people will try it. When I read the article, I came up a snot taste jelly of Harry Potter Jelly. As a such like this, the campaign make that some curious people will try it. It's good campaign for them.

Regards,
Eunjee.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Oddka would tickle my fancy and make me curious to try a new odd flavor vodka. I am a person who likes to try new things anyway so such a odd character would just push me over the top to try this odd twist to a traditional product which we already know..."

Praepat

Anonymous said...

No the Wit Oddka character does not make me want to try these Vodka flavors at all. It seems ridiculous and not like something I would want to be associated with. Although I do enjoy some of the new alcoholic flavors that have come out, I think flavors like grass and popcorn seem more silly than appealing.

Jennifer

Carlota said...

As a Gen Y women I can say that I would definitely try Coco Breve as well as Wyborowa flavored Vodka, and MillerCoors low cal beer for woman (If further selling), and I can almost assure that most Gen Y girls would do the same.

As you said before we seek for variety in the products that we purchase and we are attracted to brands that offer this. The only problem is that we are more informed consumers and we have many more options to choose from. Gen X is also a very demanding target, so besides originality, the product has to fulfill our quality expectations in order to be accepted.

I still believe that any beverage brand offering us an original and atractive product can be very sucessfull in the market, as long as they use the right marketing and CRM strategy. As somebody commented before, I think using guerrilla marketing and tapping into the "trend setters" of the group would be very a successfull marketing strategy. But the brand must not forget to complement these strategies with loyalty programs and to keep renewing the brand´s image, as we all know that Gen Y women are not as loyal as Gen X women used to be.

As I said before, I would definitely try the new flavored Vodka by Wyborowa but I dont believe they are using the right marketing strategy. At least for me is not appealing at all to grow a virtual "oddstache" mustache on my mobile phone, and I would not ¨like¨ it on Facebook either. I know that marketing strategies in social networks are very popular and effective nowdays, but Im not sure that Gen X women would like to play with a 2-D character named Wit Oddoski…