VODKA PACKAGING AUDIT - Affinnova

VODKA
PACKAGING
AUDIT

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How the top vodka brands stack up on shelf

An E-Report by

INTRODUCTION in

Affinnova Package Design Audits

On shelf competition has never been higher, with the strength of a brand, a physical package must
consumers having more options and variations convey the appropriate messages, reasons to
of products to choose from than ever before. believe and entice a purchase. Brands must focus
What that has meant to marketers is that on the design of their package as much as their
the package design of physical products is target audience, pricing and production costs in
extraordinarily important. If a product isn’t order to achieve significant retail results.
standing out on shelf it’s losing the battle for
relevance, mindshare and ultimately revenue. With that in mind, Affinnova has embarked on
an exercise in actively “auditing” package design
In fact, we know that more than 50% of purchase effectiveness across a number of key consumer
decisions are made at shelf for the majority of categories – everything from bubble gum to vodka
products, according to recent data. Regardless of to see who is truly “winning the battle on shelf.”

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The goal of these reports are to:

1. Show which brands consumers most associate with key product category personality attributes
(Sexy, Approachable, Fun, Celebratory, etc.).

2. Find which package designs are gaining the most share of attention on shelf.

3. Reveal areas where package design is positive or negatively affecting overall brand perception
among consumers.

4. Yield qualitative consumer critiques that illustrate which creative elements are resonating positively,
as well as negatively, within each “pack.”

* Affinnova audited these 12 popular vodka bottle designs
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................... in

Vodka, as a product category, is inherently interesting. As the State of the
leading growth driver in the distilled spirits market (see sidebar) Vodka Market
there have been consistent innovations in the vodka category
with different flavors and mixes. However, traditional unflavored According to a report by
vodka remains the pillar of the spirits industry, which means the Distilled Spirits Council’s
brands must be incredibly effective in their marketing, advertising Economic & Strategic
and package design efforts. For this package design audit we Analysis Dept. released last
chose vodka for a number of reasons, including: year, vodka has become
the backbone of the spirits
Package Trumps Taste industry, accounting for
32% of all volumes. In 2012,
Numerous studies have shown that consumers become attached 65.2 million 9-liter cases of
to a vodka brand due to marketing and advertising, rather vodka were sold in the United
than the quality of the actual product. Standing out on shelf States, generating $5.5 billion
and having a bottle that effectively communicates the brand’s in revenue for distillers.
attributes more often than not drives purchase behavior. It’s also Reflecting American’s
been established that consumers become more attached and desire to drink better,
loyal to a specific brand over time based on brand perception Super-Premium brands lead
and “status.” Blind taste tests have revealed that even self- category growth – increasing
proclaimed brand advocates routinely pick different vodkas as by 10% in volume in 2012.
their favorite.
In a note released on June 28,
Competition Is Intense: 2013 by analysts at Bernstein
Research and reported on
More than a dozen international vodka brands are in the CNBC.com, “Vodka continues
market currently, vying for a piece of the $5.5 billion pie. Well to grow strongly in the U.S.,
established brand such as Absolut, Smirnoff and Grey Goose lead ahead of the broader spirits
the way, but brands like Skyy have overtaken previous industry market.”
leaders including Stolichnaya. While Smirnoff is still the category
leader, more than doubling the next closest competitor in terms According to the same story,
of volume, high growth brands like Ciroc (47% growth in 2013) in the last four years the
continue to grab market share. Even single digit gains in terms of value of take-home sales for
growth can mean huge profits for ownership entities like Diageo vodka has surged by 22.5%.
and Barcardi.
Vodka makes up 31% of the
Diverse Package Designs: total sales value of the U.S
spirits market, according to
In vodka, the design and appeal of the bottle is just as the latest data from IRI.
important as the product that resides within. Brands have been
painstakingly careful in measuring what should and shouldn’t be
part of a bottle design. Some have chosen to try to stand out
and grab attention, while others have remained true to traditional
roots and existing brand perceptions. One thing is certain; vodka
bottles are incredibly interesting from a design perspective.

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INTRODUCTION in

Design Audit Methodology

Affinnova’s Vodka Brand Audit was conducted that had consumed at least one vodka drink in
in February of 2013 and included 500 nationally the past month. Furthermore, 98% of respondents
representative vodka drinkers in the United States, indicated they typically drank vodka at least once
who were asked to evaluate the top 12 brands of a month or more.
vodka currently in market. These vodkas included
Smirnoff, Absolut, Ketel One, Skyy (limited run A mix of internal collaboration as well as
bottle), Tito’s, Belvedere, Stolichnaya, Svedka, collaboration with existing clients determined the
Grey Goose, Ciroc, Pinnacle and New Amsterdam. key personality traits within the vodka category,
Participants were self-identified vodka drinkers which included:

Sophisticated Traditional Celebratory Sexy Intelligent Friendly Approachable Fun Trusted Modern Genuine

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METHODOLOGY eye tracking test, followed by a word association
exercise, then asked to click and comment on the
For this study, half of consumers were only asked specific areas of the package design they liked and
personality questions about brand names while the disliked, in order to provide qualitative feedback.
other half were only asked personality questions
about the designs. Consumers were put through an

A screened panel of Respondents engage in They complete
category users is selected web-based eye-tracking evaluations for design

for measurement exercises personality and
diagnostics
OUTPUTS

Using of various feedback mechanisms the Personality Profiles and Effective Package Design
Affinnova technology platform, various elements. And because consumers are shown the
measurements can be taken both qualitatively package designs in a virtual shelf environment, they
and quantitatively, including Shelf Impact, Brand are viewed in a competitive context.

Share of attention analysis Personality profiling for Click based likes, dislikes,
for each package viewed each brand versus pack and verbatims for each pack

in shelf-context www.affinnova.com 04

KEY FINDINGS in

High Performers/Underperformers:

• Absolut, Smirnoff, Stolichnaya and Svedka have bottles that under-perform across several
personality metrics vs. their brand equity alone.

• Belvedere, Ciroc, New Amsterdam, Pinnacle and SKYY have bottles which convey stronger
personality metrics than their brand alone.

• Kettle One is showing potential packaging weakness, with average personality traits and
open-ended comments indicating “old.”

• Absolut, Pinnacle and Svedka do the best at attracting consumer’s attention on shelf.

• Pinnacle and Svedka capitalize on that attention by disproportionately holding it, whereas
Absolute does not.

• Tito’s has the weakest personality of the tested bottles and brands.

Up and Coming Brands:

• Belvedere’s package significantly helped the brand personality by boosting all traits except
Traditional. Significant positive effects occurred with Intelligent, Approachable and Modern.

• Skyy’s limited run bottle design improved brand perceptions in a number of personality traits,
including Celebratory, Sexy, and Fun. These are key personality traits for the 18-35 consumer
demographic.

Broader graphic design traits/commonalities:

• “Imported” continues to be an important graphic treatment, with consumers responding positively
to the country of origin.

• Consumers are drawn consistently to the center of the bottle, with some brands taking full
advantage with impactful graphics, logos and text. Others are falling short and not taking full
advantage of that critical space.

Package Design Personality Data:

• Absolut scored higher in Genuine, Friendly and Approachable with their bottle design with men
than it did with women.

• Among women, Skyy and Ciroc were seen as far and away the Sexiest bottles.

• Among 21-34 year olds, Stoli’s bottle is seen as much less Modern compared to perceptions with
the 35 plus group.

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HOW THE BIG 3 STACKED UP in

A look at how the Top 3 Vodka brands stacked up

Grey Goose

Grey Goose’s bottle design performed above the average
for Visibility (Consumers looking at the package in the
first 4 seconds) slightly, with a 7% boost over the indexed
average, and outperformed at holding attention, with a
9% boost in Share of Attention score over the indexed
average.

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Brand Personality Pack Personality Absolut

Sophisticated Absolut’s bottle
Traditional design performed
Celebratory
Sexy well on shelf,
Intelligent scoring above the

ApproFaricehanbdllye indexed average,
Fun but is pulling

Trusted down the brand in
Modern a number of key
Genuine
personality traits,
particularly Sexy.

* Brand personality score indicates consumer perception of brand name only. Pack personality is

.................................consumer’s perception of the actual bottle design. ..................................

Smirnoff

While women associate the Smirnoff brand with Sexy, men do not. Smirnoff is
viewed as vastly different, as a brand, between younger and older vodka drinkers.
Younger drinkers see the brand as Modern, Celebratory and Fun. Smirnoff’s bottle
design evokes largely positive associations, with a strong orientation around
being Traditional and classic.

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DETAILED
AUDIT
RESULTS

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PACKAGE PERSONALITY PROFILES in

Branding is a crucial managerial task and categories or more. Meanwhile, Ketel One lagged
consequently a major dimension of marketing behind in all but Traditional, while Tito’s couldn’t
theory and practice. Two important aspects of get higher than ninth for any brand attribute.
branding are: (1) brands have personalities or
human-like characteristics that distinguish them Some interesting package perceptions also
from each other, and these personalities are emerged on a demographic level, with men and
important to consumers; (2) consumers become women, as well as younger and older groups
“engaged” with brands, meaning that they feel having different views of each bottle design. For
special emotional and symbolic connections example, women viewed Stolichnaya and Tito’s
with certain brands.” (Goldsmith and Goldsmith, as nearly equal in terms of Sophisticated as a
American Journal of Management vol. 12) personality descriptor.

Knowing that brand personality is crucial in Meanwhile, Absolut’s bottle performed better in

establishing credibility and equity with target Celebratory, Intelligent, Genuine, Trusted, Fun,

consumers, Affinnova chose eleven important Friendly and Approachable among the 35 plus

personality traits most commonly associated with group than it did with the 21-34 year old group.

the vodka category, then worked to establish the Finally, the 21-34 year old group found the

brands that had a corresponding package design Smirnoff bottle to be Fun, Friendly and

that lead the way within each trait. The below Approachable. By comparison, the 35+ group

chart shows where each vodka bottle ranked in found Absolut’s bottle design to be Fun, Friendly

terms of design personality traits. Absolut, Grey and Approachable.

G.o.o.s.e,.S.k.yy. .an.d. S.m..irn.o.f.f t.o.o.k .th.e.t.o.p.s.po.t.in. .tw.o. . ... .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

VODKA PACKAGE PERSONALITY PROFILES

* Personality rankings are based on entire panel size for men and women www.affinnova.com 08

DESIGN VS. BRAND PERSONALITY in

After measuring overall personality of package helping to lift the brand. Not surprisingly,
design, we then compared these results against there is often a very wide gap between
consumers’ perception of the brand. This shows existing brand perceptions on the whole and
potential areas of erosion, where the package perceptions of the package on shelf. A wide
design is actually weighing down consumers gap often indicates the need for a package
perception of the brand in the market. It also re-design, to better align with existing brand
reveals areas where the package design is personality traits.

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Design vs. Brand Personality Winner:

Belvedere Vodka WINNER

Belvedere’s bottle design is elevating its brand in nearly every personality
category, but most notably Intelligent, Approachable and Modern.

• It’s clear Belvedere has an opportunity to capitalize on these package
perceptions via advertising and marketing campaigns that reinforce them.

• Belvedere finished first in package personality for Intelligent.

• Respondents had an overwhelmingly positive reaction to the image of the
mansion, commenting that it was stately, regal and classy.

• Belvedere does not stand out well but overcompensates by holding the attention
of those who take notice

Brand Personality Pack Personality

Sophisticated
Traditional
Celebratory
Sexy
Intelligent
Friendly

Approachable
Fun

Trusted
Modern
Genuine
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SHELF IMPACT in

A critical indicator of a successful package design Participants were taken through a benchmarking
is its ability to quickly grab consumers attention exercise using Affinnova’s patented survey
on shelf and hold that attention for a long period methodology with eye-tracking technology, which
of time. As a part of the audit, we measured this assesses the inherent ability of a package design
impact for each of the brands we tested. to be noticed within the context of competition,
free of distorting biases Affinnova can measure:

• VISIBILITY: % of consumers looking at a package in the first 4 seconds

• SHARE OF ATTENTION: % of time the average consumer spends on each package in
the first 4 seconds

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In the below graphic, 100 is the average score decrease above the indexed average that each
for Visibility and Share of Attention for package package received. (i.e.: Pinnacle saw a 39%
design eye tracking. The corresponding number increase over the average design for Share
above or below 100 represents the increase or of Attention).

PACKAGE SHELF IMPACT

VISIBILITY

* Visibility and Share of Attention go hand in hand. Visibility measures if a pack was seen at all in
the first four seconds, while Share of Attention measure how long it was focused on once seen.

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SHELF IMPACT in

Shelf Impact Winners: VISIBILITY SHARE OF ATTENTION

• Absolut, Pinnacle, and Svedka do the best at attracting consumer’s attention, with all three performing
well beyond the average in terms of Visibility as well as Share of Attention.

• Pinnacle and Svedka capitalize on that attention by disproportionately holding it (both 30+% increase in
the indexed average for Share of Attention), whereas Absolute does not

• Belvedere does not stand out well (6% below the indexed average for Visibility) but overcompensates by

holding the attention of those who do take notice, seeing a boost of 22% over the indexed average for

Share of Attention. 39%

34%

19% 22% 19%
13%
10%

INDEXED AVG

-6%

Shelf Impact Losers:

• Smirnoff was below the average for both Visibility and Share of Attention. It is currently the world’s No. 1
selling vodka and last went through well-publicized bottle redesign in 2003.

• Ciroc, despite scoring well in a number of key personality traits, fell well short of the competition on shelf.
The bottle tied for last in Visibility and second to last for Share of Attention.

• Despite having a relatively good Visibility score, Smirnoff was the least effective at holding attention at
25% below the average.

• Tito’s did not score well in either Visibility or Share of Attention, falling more than 10 points below the
average in both.

INDEXED AVG

-9% -8% -6%

-12% -12%

-23% -25% -20%

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CLICK AND COMMENT DIAGNOSTICS in

As part of the audit, Affinnova engaged that can be made to existing packaging, in
consumers to provide free form commentary order to more closely reflect the current brand
about their likes and dislikes of the package perceptions. Consumers click design elements
designs they reviewed. This exercise is useful they like most and least, with each click
in revealing design elements that are viewed prompting the consumer to elaborate with free
positively and negatively, to help shape a potential form feedback. Affinnova’s technology then
new design. detects zones of interest and analytic summaries,
where verbatim feedback is collected and
Click and Comment Diagnostics also analyze available through an interactive viewer.
performance results to inform design refinements

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CLICK AND COMMENT DIAGNOSTICS in

How consumers view the Big 3 bottle designs

Absolut

• The Absolut logo is seen as
overwhelmingly positive in terms of
text, color and message. (zone A)

• The handwritten history is the most
polarizing aspect of the bottle.
It’s viewed as equally positive and
negative by consumers. (zone B)

• Many liked the fact that the
product is imported. (zone C)

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Smirnoff

• Overall, the Smirnoff pack is
well liked with limited and
diverse negative response.

• Consumers like the red color,
think it’s classy and stands out.

• Consumers frequently note liking
the triple distilled claim. (zone A)

• The logo near the cap is seen as a
positive (zone D) and stands out

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Grey Goose www.affinnova.com 13

• Grey Goose’s bottle communicated
its “French” origin and “good”
reputation.

• The landscape in the center (zone A)
is viewed positively, with many liking
the scene and imagery.

• The “Imported from France”
message (zone B) received some
negative feedback, but was overall
viewed positively

ABOUT AFFINNOVA in

Affinnova’s Technology

Affinnova helps companies bring their best to fully explore their ideas and create a wide space
product, advertising and design ideas to market. of product, advertising or design possibilities.
That creative space of ideas, often representing
Traditional creative research tools and techniques millions of variations, is then processed by
typically force trade-offs between creative patented evolutionary algorithms using individual
exploration and accurate prediction. Marketers are and collective consumer feedback to find the
forced to suppress creativity to reliably analyze optimal concepts or executions that are then
one or two ideas, or work through complex measured against competitive benchmarks to
processes with long cycle times that still end in predict performance and provide actionable
sub-optimal executions. business insights.

By contrast, Affinnova’s technology platform Affinnova’s technology can be applied to a broad
fully unleashes the power of creativity through a range of creative executions, including product
combination of collaboration software, evolutionary concept development, product packaging,
optimization technology and predictive analytics. communication strategy, traditional/digital
Affinnova’s collaboration software empowers teams advertising, web/mobile site design and store design.

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Explore Optimize Act

Collaboration Software Evolutionary Algorithm Predictive Analytics & Insights

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Watch our Request a Demo of
Intro to Affinnova video Affinnova Studio

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CONTACT AFFINNOVA in

* Interested in your own Package Design Audit?

Click this link or email:

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* Learn more about Affinnova’s Package Design Solutions

Contact Us! Click this link to see our video
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