Did you ever wonder about Vodka?

As reported by Wine & Spirits Daily:

DIFFERENTIATING VODKA

Vodka is vodka is vodka? Business Week featured an interesting article on vodka that begs the question: what, exactly, distinguishes one vodka brand from the next?

"With spirits, especially vodka (because there is so little to distinguish one product from another), the design of the bottle and label is crucially important, along with the country of origin and 'brand story.' Each vodka I tasted had its own brand story that helps deliver the product as much as a lemon wedge or olive."

In the article, journalist David Kiley conducts a blind taste test with avid vodka drinkers who generally stick to a certain brand (namely Ketel One, Grey Goose or Absolut). In the test, no one successfully picked their brand.

"The other conclusion I drew was that when it comes to mixing vodka with fruit juice, or unpurified ice, you might as well as save your money and keep a bottle of Popov around."

Based on this article, we notice a parallel between vodka and domestic light beer. Domestic light beer brands (Miller Lite, Bud Light and Coors Light) so closely aligned themselves with one another in the past through advertising that customers often had a hard time differentiating between brands. Today, those beer companies are working to differentiate themselves from the competition, and are doing a good job at it. Vodka brands, particularly premium and up, need to come up with their own very different marketing strategy and image to avoid falling in a "sameness" trap. Sounds easy on paper, huh?