Your Preferences are More Important than Marketing Claims

Your Preferences are More Important than Marketing Claims

Your preferences matter far more than brand claims and marketing appeals to your emotions and identity. Glassware that concentrates ethanol can distort your perceptions and influence your purchasing decisions. Spirits brands also use suggestion to shape consumer choices. To recognize these influences, step back and examine how sophisticated spirits-marketing operations use suggestion to sell their products.

Marketing the Brand Visually

Spirits brands definitely invest heavily in branding and packaging. Bottle design, label art, and packaging materials suggest quality, tradition, or uniqueness. Obviously, these moves target consumers’ individuality or role identification.  Visual imagery suggests an unsupported connection to quality.  For example, taller, slimmer bottles imply premium product and higher alcohol content as well as unique height and position among competitors on the shelf.

Marketing Through Claims and Suggestion over Personal Preferences

Storytelling: • Compelling narratives of history, heritage, and craftsmanship, create emotional connections with consumers and suggest a rich and authentic backstory.

Twisted Marketing Science/Pseudo-Scientific Language: Many brands use complex-sounding scientific terminology to describe manufacturing processes. This is intended to suggest a higher level of sophistication or intellect unsupported by science.  For example, “proprietary molecular aging,” “scientifically crafted.”

Flavor Profiling: Use of terms like “complex chemical interactions,” and “unique molecular composition” imply a scientific production advantage or attempt to legitimize the technical aspect of a specific flavor profile, impressing the consumer as a result.

Production Techniques: Terms like special filtration, secret processes, distilled 12 times, imply enhanced product quality.

Awards/Accolades: • Awards suggest quality and excellence, which can influence consumer perceptions. To demonstrate, competitions bestow medals, certificates, and praise. In essence, these honors iterate superior competitive position and quality. One should also note that marketing is capable of inventing their own recognition symbols.

Age Statements: Prominent display of age implies age and quality go hand-in-hand and older is better, both falsehoods.

Alcohol Content: Terms similar to “cask strength” along with high ABV numbers are prominently displayed to imply the consumer gets more value for his money. Higher alcohol implies higher quality. “Direct from the barrel” means the spirit is uncut, in its purest state. As one can see, the consumer is promised more ethanol, creating an ethanol value proposition. Value equates to higher ethanol. Thus, ethanol is synonymous to quality.

Other Marketing Devices

Serving Suggestions: Branders recommend ideal glassware, garnishes, food and cocktail recipes, and serving temperatures, thereupon implying an enhanced overall drinking experience and suggesting a high level of sophistication.

Food Pairing: Brands suggest food pairings that complement the flavors of their products. Additionally, some publish recipes to create brand versatility for more occasions.

More Subtle Marketing Tricks Deflect Personal Preferences

Misleading Ingredients: Notably, special ingredients such as spring water, natural grains, imply that the brand is healthier or purer than the competition, therefore establishing brand superiority.

Limited Editions and Rarity: As a rule, limited-edition or rare expressions create a sense of exclusivity and urgency among consumers. Limited quantities fuel demand and excitement. How special are those barrel picks?

Celebrity Endorsements: Collaboration with celebrities creates a mental association with a lifestyle or personality. Expressly, using celebrities suggests an acquirable image to consumers who admire them

Tasting Notes and Descriptions: Detailed tasting notes and flavor descriptions guide consumers. Phrases like “notes of caramel and oak” or “smooth finish” suggest specific flavor profiles and qualities.

Social Media: Social media and online reviews play a significant role in suggesting a spirit’s popularity and quality. Positive reviews and user-generated content sway potential buyers

Atmosphere/Experience: Portrayal of an “ideal” drinking environment, suggests enjoyment of the spirit in particular settings to enhance the overall experience. For example, a cozy lounge, by the fireplace, at the beach, or first-class seat on the plane.

Customization/Personalization: Personalized or customized names or messages on bottles suggest unique and thoughtful gifts, commemorated occasions, or personal indulgences. As a result, the consumer feels the brand is reaching out to communicate with him/her.

Accessories: Glassware, shakers, muddling sticks, stirrers, flight boards, bar mats, tasting placemats, koozies, tote bags, thermal cups, sweaters and any number of personalized accessories get the brand name out. As a result, consumers proudly and somewhat unconsciously use logoed items which imply their support of the brand.

Public Tasting Events

Face-to-face distiller direct-to-consumer is a carefully constructed marketing tool to build loyalty, sales, and repeat business. By placing a face to the brand, tastings introduce the brand ambassador, distiller, or key personality to influence purchasing decisions. As a result, the consumer now has a human to identify with.

We have only scratched the surface.  The power of suggestion leverages psychological cues and associations to shape consumer perceptions and influence purchasing decisions. Spirits marketers use a combination of tactics to create compelling narratives around their products. This integration also makes them more appealing to a broad range of consumers with different tastes and preferences, and often targeting specific demographics.

As a matter of fact, readily accept all of this. After all, everybody everywhere is trying to get their hands in our pockets, and that may never change.  However, somewhere in the back of the consumer mind, memory of and exposure to all these things adds up to future purchases, not to mention brand loyalty, without a single consideration for science, or truth in marketing claims.

Summary

In the end, consumers are emotionally distracted in so many ways that the prime reason for the spirits purchase has been forgotten, if not placed way down on the list of priorities. Accordingly, that purpose is originally to discover our personal preferences; desirable sensory experiences in taste, aroma, and finish.

Do spirits buyers know what they are doing?  We think not, as many cannot even get beyond the word “smooth” to describe sensory characteristics of their favorite brand. In fact, the well-oiled marketing machine chugs along continuously, motivating our purchases by deflecting our original objective. Ultimately, we have let our personal preferences be sidelined so we can enjoy the show. Then, if we enjoyed the performance, we replace them with show highlights. Marketing depends on it.

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Bio:  George F Manska, CR&D, Arsilica, Inc.

Qualifications:  Published sensory science researcher, entrepreneur. BSME, NEAT glass co-inventor

Mission: Replace myth and misinformation with scientific truth through consumer education.  

Comments Welcome – Contact:  george@arsilica.com, phone 702.332.7305. 

More Information: www.theneatglass.com/shop