Exclusive: Brown-Forman Remakes, Extends Southern Comfort In Turnaround Effort

After a difficult period in which it has faced pressure from the flavored whiskey segment and a general slowdown in the on-premise, Brown-Forman’s Southern Comfort brand is going back on the offensive. Next month, the storied liqueur label will launch a packaging makeover across its entire line, as well as a new Caramel Comfort flavor intended as a versatile offering to appeal to a wide swath of consumers.

Calling Southern Comfort’s bottle revamp its “largest packaging evolution in nearly a decade,” Brown-Forman said changes include a new icon on the neck and label “proudly owning Southern Comfort’s position as a category of one,” and a fresh bottle shape that draws from the brand’s heritage and still includes its familiar fluted shoulders. The repack covers the full portfolio, including Southern Comfort 100 Proof, Lime Comfort, Cherry Comfort and the new Caramel Comfort. The latter is billed as a flavor profile that attracts both men and women and can be enjoyed across a range of occasions, including in cocktails, shots and dessert drinks.

As it seeks a reversal of fortune in the U.S. market, Southern Comfort has significant ground to make up. Amid the flavored whiskey trend—which has benefited shot-occasion rivals like Sazerac’s Fireball, as well as Brown-Forman portfoliomates like Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey—Southern Comfort has seen its U.S. volume slide by around 25% since hitting its high-water mark of 1.54 million cases in 2006. Globally, the brand was down 3.3% to 1.75 million cases in 2014, according to Impact Databank.

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Tagged : Brown-Forman, Fireball, Jack Daniel's, Sazerac, Southern Comfort

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