Vodka’s number-one product attribute is purity. It seemed obvious to Geoff Ross that pure New Zealand was the place to make it.

New Zealand has the physical ingredients for producing world class vodka – clean air, water and good growing conditions. But there were two other attributes that were equally important to Ross – a reputation globally as a place of purity and a growing reputation for creativity.

Tens of millions of people around the world only had to watch the Lord of the Rings to get a taste of both. Rather than attempt to capture it on film, Ross wanted to bottle this creativity and purity.

From years in advertising he knew people paid a premium for stories that “transported” them to fresh, exotic and enlivened places – especially if, like the urban cocktail elite, they had plenty to spend. The cocktail set had another natural advantage for Ross. He saw that their natural meeting place – bars – could become the equivalent of his product’s “town square” and the bar staff the town criers.

The Insights

Back your intuition

If you have a powerful insight or idea, trust your instincts. Don’t use research into potential customer attitudes as a crutch – doing so only pits the intuition of other people (who may lack the same sense of opportunity) against yours. There is plenty of opportunity for testing during the design phase.
Be in tune with global, not just New Zealand, trends and tastes

One of the reasons people may have initially doubted the prospects of a New Zealand-made vodka is that vodka is not high in the consciousness of New Zealanders relative to other beverages and spirits. In the United States and in parts of Europe, however, vodka-based cocktails are among the most widely consumed and fastest growing drinks.

Don’t underestimate the power of “Brand New Zealand”

“Brand New Zealand” has considerably more than a clean, green image to offer in support of a design-led business that is looking to export globally – it is increasingly known for its creativity. 42 Below is leveraging the perceived purity and creativity of New Zealand to maximise its country of origin-based competitive advantage.

If you can design and develop your product characteristics and values to match those of New Zealand’s, you have the benefit of many years and of hundreds of millions of dollars investment in that brand on your side.

Develop a name that tells a story in its own right

42 Below refers to a latitude through New Zealand. The name celebrates the brand’s place in the world and accentuates the sense of “cool” and “pristine” central to the core value of vodka – purity. The name 42 Below is applied in a range of ways to reinforce its significance and the brand’s level of self-awareness – from the “42 Below Job” T shirts worn by 42 Below’s brand agents to the 42 per cent alcohol content of the vodka.

Put great store in your story

Geoff Ross knew that consumers globally would spend a considerable amount on a story if it met conscious and subconscious needs – and they had freely disposable income. He also knew that the relative value of the story in the point-of-purchase price could be even higher if competitors lacked the equivalent relevance and piquancy in their stories.

Designing the difference

A product and product story designed around reverence to purity, irreverence to marketing norms.

For Ross there was no need to research his hunch. “If we researched launching a New Zealand vodka, the answer would’ve been ‘no’. Sometimes you have to believe in your idea and just go for it.”

This attitude is pivotal to 42 Below’s design difference. While most organisations differentiate by studying the competition, 42 Below actively seeks to avoid comparisons. They differentiate their brand by doing it their way.

To enable them to “zig when competitors are zagging”, 42 Below recognizes that it needs to have a core tenet that never changes. For them this core attribute is “best”.

Hence Ross’s determination to find the perfect bottle – a bottle inspired by a rare olive oil bottle he had seen – even though it meant having it made in France.

Hence designing the production process around the best, most natural ingredients possible and employing an unusually long six week distillation time with multiple filtrations.

And hence the focus on a few highly influential individuals and bars, to the point of flying them to Queenstown from around the world for the 42 Below Vodka World Cup.

Even if the company had the resources to saturate these cities with traditional advertising, they wouldn’t. The people they want to reach reject mass marketing – for 42 Below, the medium is a big part of the message.

The Insights

Have a clear view of your brand’s place in the world, from the outset

Even before he sold his first bottle of 42 Below, Geoff Ross knew that he wanted to design, develop and market “the most desired, talked about vodka in the world” – “to achieve world domination”. This precocious goal has directed all of the company’s thinking.

Differentiate on your own terms

Differentiation is not, however, achieved by studying what the brand is differentiating itself against – competitors’ tactics – but by following its own path.

Differentiation is at the heart of 42 Below. It is not, however, achieved by studying what the brand is differentiating itself against – competitors’ tactics – but by following its own path. 42 Below believes doing so is the only way to fully appreciate the opportunities in the market in a fresh, unique way. Because of this, 42 Below can be, in effect, in both the same and different categories as its competitors. The same, in that it is a Vodka, but different in that it tells a story that evokes a different reaction.

Be aware of the big trends

While 42 Below avoids being distracted by the tactics of competitors, they are sensitive to bigger trends. Launching manuka honey vodka, for example, was a response to a global trend towards flavoured spirits.

If premium is your place, aim for best in every aspect

From the outset, 42 Below has been uncompromising in every aspect of its design and production. The ingredients, the distillation process and the presentation of the product all speak of absolute, unerring purity. Where necessary, this means sourcing components outside of New Zealand, where their place of manufacture is not central to the 42 Below story. 42 Below’s bottles are made in France because this is where the best quality could be sourced.

You can be irreverent and reverent at the same time

42 Below’s design has been developed to emphasise the two polar ends of the positioning spectrum. There is no contradiction for them that their product is made with complete reverence to the purest and best products available, yet is marketed highly irreverently. This goes to the heart of the nature of their customers – people who demand the best, but want to be entertained and provoked.

The design dividend

Justifying premium pricing from the choice of ingredients right through to the “42 Below experience” in bars.

42 Below is yet to reap a direct financial dividend on its investment in design – the company is targeting March 2005 as break-even date. The company’s design-led approach is an investment in something longer-term – making every future sale easier, and at a premium price point.

42 Below’s growth strategy is built on touching as many people in its target group with the 42 Below experience as possible. The brand has just two price points – premium and free. Where 42 Below is gifted (and this is becoming rarer as the brand’s recognition grows) it is only to those who will powerfully endorse the 42 Below experience.

The company controls the brand experience right to the bar top with a network of “brand agents” in key markets. With transparent brief-cases and designer “42 Below Job” T Shirts, the brand agents work exclusively for 42 Below and reward exclusive bar arrangements by offering to redesign or reprint cocktail lists. It’s little surprise whose brand name appears on this material.

The 42 Below story is also paying dividends beyond the bar. Few investors would have considered a local vodka company before hearing the 42 Below story, yet the company raised $15 million in a share float in 2003, giving the company capital for market and product development.

Those who judge are also taking notice. 42 Below won a gold medal at the 2004 Monde World Selection in Brussels for 42 Below Pure Vodka and a gold for 42 Below Manuka Honey Vodka at the Salon Internationale award in Paris.

Such wins are a springboard for distribution to France, Germany and Italy. 42 Below is also looking at a new take on coals-to-Newcastle, considering sending vodka to Vladivostok.

The Insights

Never undersell yourself

Premium pricing in the right market can be a major marketing opportunity. 42 Below has never compromised its premium pricing even though a premium can initially be difficult to justify for an untested, new brand. 42 Below has only two price points – premium or free.

The last step in the process can be the most important

The final step in 42 Below’s distribution – the presentation of the product to the bars that will sell it – is arguably the most important in the brand’s expression. Because of this the company is prepared to invest heavily in having its own highly trained and carefully selected people, providing bar owners with a uniquely “42 Below experience”.

Identify, and tap, the richest vein

42 Below creates a major “multiplier effect” in its key markets by focusing on a remarkably small number of bars – those who will most powerfully endorse the product. They have fought the temptation to attempt to conquer new geographies simply to be more widely available – 42 Below will only enter new territories when it has a strongly relevant story to tell. For example it is entering the French, Italian and German markets on the back of two significant awards in Brussels and Paris.

Be audacious

42 Below’s profile and product awareness is currently significantly in advance of sales. The brand has courted controversy through a range of carefully designed stunts, because they know that its target audience admires the qualities of individuality, cheek and irreverence.

Sell the broader experience

42 Below understands that to sell vodka, they need to market the experience beyond the limits of their product. They seek to promote 42 Below-based cocktails, to the extent of holding the 42 Below Cocktail World Cup in Queenstown and inviting leading bar people from around the world to compete and experience the 42 Below/New Zealand experience. 42 Below says the TV footage of the event has been played in more than 35 television stations across the United States.