Friday, July 31, 2015

The Aristocrat Group Corp. (ASCC) Strategy to Bring Easily Mixable Ultra Premium Vodka Brands to the Mass Market is Segment-Defining

President and CEO of national distilled spirits trade association, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), Peter Cressy, noted in the DISCUS U.S. Market Report for 2014 that premiumization across all categories continued to be a strong source of consumer interest. Another important driver of the sector’s growth – characterized by data points such as a reported 4 percent uptick in supplier sales to over $23 billion last year and a 2.2 percent rise in total sales volume to 210 million cases – has been the emergence of small distillers, bringing unique concepts into the market and inspiring an organic surge in the overall spirits category.

U.S. retail sales of distilled spirits were around $70 billion last year and strong consumer interest in cocktails, as well as improving market access and modernization factors, have contributed to an estimated 3.7 percent growth in the export market too, marking the fifth straight year of such export growth. Vodka in particular has shown renewed interest, with cocktails like the Bloody Mary, Strawberry Cranberry Mule and Vodka Martini in high swing, alongside an ongoing boom for American whiskeys, giving rise to more consumption of evergreen favorites like the Mint Julep, Old Fashioned, and Whiskey Sour. Flavored vodka sales were actually off last year, but the more mixable, traditional vodka volumes grew on-pace with exports, showing 3.7 percent growth year over year.

Nearly half the global alcoholic beverage market is currently dominated by a 40 percent branded drinks footprint according to Transparency Market Research. A footprint featuring powerhouses like Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD), which generates over $1 billion a year from 16 of its top brands alone, as well as the world’s largest producer of spirits, Diageo (NYSE: DEO), and private company Bacardi, the name of which is almost synonymous with rum, thanks to the popularity of its eponymous white rum. Diageo, which gets about 13 percent of its entire sales volume from vodka, is a perfect example of how important brands are in this game, with both the world’s best-selling vodka and the world’s best-selling blended Scotch whiskey, Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker respectively, among its lineup.

It is into this market that The Aristocrat Group Corp. (OTC: ASCC) has stepped with its brand management division, Luxuria Brands, a local Idaho distiller, Distilled Resources, and a bold strategy to bring a series of ultra-premium vodkas to the mass market. Outstanding, high-class vodka without the high-class price tag is a solid strategic move by ASCC to tap into the $5.5 billion and growing U.S. vodka market. The company’s focused branding strategy looks good right out of the gate as the company moves to develop, bottle, and distribute a unique selection of fine vodka products worldwide.

The company’s flagship vodka and the first of two distinct vodka brands, RWB Ultra-Premium Handcrafted Vodka (http://www.rwbvodka.com), is an award-winningly delicate and smooth, ultra-premium vodka made from the highest quality Idaho potatoes. Produced using a unique four-column distillation process that results in a perfectly balanced and eminently mixable vodka, RWB Ultra-Premium Handcrafted Vodka has become a fast favorite. In eye-catching bottles that really pop out on shelves, this living vessel of traditional craftsmanship speaks directly to the widest market of vodka lovers and is rapidly winning more and more retailers, with the biggest distributor in North America currently handling the product’s proliferation.

The Aristocrat Group’s newly announced Big Box Vodka, distilled from Idaho winter wheat through a continuous four-column distillation process and then packaged into an innovative box for convenience and portability, brings the same quality of smooth and crisp ultra-premium vodka to a market segment historically associated with wine: bag-in-box. Whether it stays in the freezer for easy dispensing and mixing at a party, or if it is carried on-the-go to events like Fourth of July festivities, this ultra-premium vodka in a spouted, 1.75-liter box that is twice the volume of standard 750 mL bottles, is an ingenious combination of innovative packaging and a superb spirit.

Intent on rolling out this market segment-defining product during the summer in the most populous U.S. regions, including via retailers in California, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada and Texas, The Aristocrat Group is grabbing the bull by both horns here, confident that its strategy for capturing significant market share in the vodka space is indeed quite sound. The company’s recent announcement that it will showcase RWB Ultra-Premium Handcrafted Vodka at a major cocktail festival this July 15 to 19 in New Orleans, an event which will captivate the attention of the entire spirits industry for five days, only adds to the company’s already well defined marketing.

Existing marketing like the RWB Racing effort, whereby the company is racing with a professional prototype program including drivers Robbie Kerr and Nicholas De Crem, is another example of the kind of brand presence reinforcing work ASCC is involved in around the promotion of their vodkas. Engaged in via the Dawson Group, the only team running a professional Radical SR9 and slated to compete in Tudors Sports Car Championship and World Endurance Championship class races, this marketing effort helps flesh-out the brand identity and give it a unique appeal.

Take a closer look by visiting www.aristocratgroupcorp.com

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