Keep talking

Makeovers of liquor brands are rare, so when they happen you can't help but notice.

Think of a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label "" have you seen it any other way? Ever? With its square base, flowing black-tail in stride, customary cap and lean lettering, it's a classic. Something all liquor brands picture themselves as.

So when a liquor brand undergoes an outward makeover, you have to sit up and look. The focus here is on UB Group's vodka brand Romanov and its Scotch brand Black Dog, both of which are looking rather different.

While Romanov has been given a glamorous makeover, highlighted by Shilpa Shetty's high-wired yells of "Vonamor?" and mermaid calls of "Vonaparty?" from billboards, Black Dog has adopted an approach that easily qualifies as subtle in comparison.

Says Alok Gupta, head of marketing, UB, "While Black Dog's makeover was done keeping in mind its centenary year, Romanov as a brand needed a facelift."

The Black Dog centenary celebrations include a slew of promotions, starting with a special sweepstake offer "" win a sportscar, custom-designed by Dilip Chhabria.

Gupta says that Black Dog needed to project itself as an innovative brand, now that even Scotch consumption is showing a clear trend towards a younger generation.

"The brand enjoys cult status worldwide," he says, "and we felt that people in India too should get a taste of it."

The needs of Romanov were different, he adds. The brand had to be contemporarised in another sort of way "" to look more like a brand of the future.

The new bottle of Romanov, with its red-and- silver label, comes with a guala cap. The brand has also introduced pint and nip lookalikes for the first time.

The company has undertaken several on-the-ground promotion activities for Romanov. It has created special Romanov zones at pubs, for example, to create a buzz about the new look.

It has sought to engage people through outdoor, radio, Internet and print devices, apart from below-the-line activities and events. The burst of brand hoopla will last a few more weeks "" through the upcoming party season, which could give Romanov a sales surge that boosts it beyond the 25-30-per cent growth path it is currently claimed to be on.

Priced the same at Rs 250 for 750 ml, Rs 130 for 375 ml and Rs 67 for 180 ml (low for a triple-distilled vodka), it is easier on wallets than Smirnoff and other fancy brands.

The main competition, though, may come from Seagram's Fuel and Radico's Magic Moments. And without a makeover, Romanov may well have been left out of the action. After all, it's season again for liquor brands to help strike up conversations, and that's part of the market game: to keep 'em talking.