Premium is a widely used marketing term in the spirits industry. And it comes with high consumer expectations, from ingredients to processes and branding to packaging. They want to see proof of the spirits’ higher status. And so premium is a double edged sword: fall short of meeting these expectations and your product will lose credibility.
But what exactly makes a premium spirit?
1) Its ingredients
In the first place, it all comes down to what the spirit is made of. Only the highest quality raw ingredients go into the product. And it’s down to the master distiller to carefully choose each of them without compromising quality for price.
2) Its production processes
A spirit can premium regardless of the size of the operation, unlike craft spirits. Instead, the focus is on its production processes. For example, there’s a much greater degree of cutting the spirit to only bottle the best quality liquid. So the master distiller discards more of the product, meaning the costs of production are higher.
3) Its brand and physical evidence of the brand
Premium marketing comes hand in hand with premium spirits. The brand name, typography, colours and visual identity all bring the premium aspect to life in the eyes of the consumer. That is particularly visible in the brand’s choice about packaging: it uses high quality stock and luxurious printing processes like embossing. The same goes about any POS.
You can also see this in their marketing activity. Everything from the messaging to the look and feel of their website and social media feeds oozes high quality, if not luxury.