Visually there’s a fine line between doing something fresh and exciting and being too conceptual. Consumers are attracted to brands aligned with traditional spirits because they’re seeking a non-alcoholic alternative, but if it looks too similar then it could also be overlooked by those seeking to moderate. It’s certainly a hard balance to get right.
Historically the first place consumers often came across a product was on supermarket shelves or behind a bar, today the journey can be very different many people discovering brands through social media. With Sylva we’re selling most of our first release “Padauk” direct to consumers along with some strict luxury off trade allocation, so the vast majority of our communication is through people’s phones, a 6-inch screen which puts extra importance on our content and messaging.
In the UK the term ‘alcohol-free’ means no more than 0.05% abv whereas ‘low-alcohol’ is no more than 1.2% abv. To add further confusion, across Europe and in the US, ‘alcohol-free’ means anything under 0.5% abv and these fluctuating rules are enforced more in some countries than others. Of course, consumers won’t have a clue about these nuances but a brand could easily sleepwalk into legal trouble, especially those with export plans. Personally I’d like the whole sector to drop these terms and simply state a product’s abv rather than create an extra barrier of confusion.
Adopting a trademark category term such as gin or vodka is also something I have a problem with. Not only is it misleadingly appropriating, but it creates a huge expectation for consumers who are generally disappointed. I doubt the vodka category, for example, is happy being compared to these products which ultimately don’t represent it very well. It’s true that aligning with an established category provides some clarity to a product’s identity, but setting a massive expectation which is almost impossible to match does more damage.
From the perspective of an established brand such as Gordon’s or Beefeater, they don’t even use the word ‘gin’ on the label of their non-alcoholic alternatives. They don’t need to. Consumers see the brands and automatically think of gin. With Seedlip we never made the gin comparison, we told people to have it with tonic and consumers made their own connection. For Sylva we also use words synonymous with whisky like maturation and sipping it neat, but without using the trademark.
I’m convinced that the success of a brand, even one possessing a world class liquid and beautiful bottle design, will be stifled without clear and effective communication to the right audience. By focusing on familiar codes like process, occasion or serve, new brands will be much more effective at bridging the gap between seeing it online and that all important first taste test.
Ben Branson founded the world’s first non-alcoholic spirit brand, Seedlip, in 2015 and three years later Diageo bought the majority. Since then, Branson has launched Seasn cocktail bitters and runs a successful charity podcast about neurodivergence called The Hidden 20%. His most recent project, Sylva, uses advanced technology to create the effects of wood ageing on non-alcoholic spirits.
