News Briefs for June 8, 2012
June 8, 2012•Southern Comfort has debuted a new crowdsourced national television and online video campaign, which it says is the first of its kind in the spirits industry. The “Lingo Cops” campaign—comprised of two ads touting the Southern Comfort and Cola mixed drink and Southern Comfort’s new Bold Black Cherry flavor—was selected as the winner of a competition in which contestants submitted entries through Poptent, an online community of videographers offering their work to major brands and high-profile organizations. The winning spots were created by Fort Wayne, Indiana-based production group RezFX. They will run on ESPN, TBS, FX, NBC Sports Network and Comedy Central, as well as some late night shows.
•Proximo’s 1800 Tequila is preparing to launch the fourth round of its Essential Artists series, featuring six limited edition 1800 Silver Tequila bottles designed by six different artists. The bottles, which draw inspiration from traditional Mayan, Aztec and Mexican imagery, are set to roll out at high-end retail outlets this month. Artists commissioned for the most recent project included Kai & Sunny (London), Tara McPherson (New York), Ilovedust (London), Nathan Fox (New York), Bliss (New York) and Sandro “Misk1” Tchikovani (San Francisco). Only 1,800 bottles of each artist’s design will be released. Super-premium 1800 Tequila grew 16.7% by volume last year to 805,000 cases, making it the fourth-largest Tequila brand in the U.S., according to Impact Databank.
•Ireland’s Niche Drinks, producer of Luxco-marketed St. Brendan’s Irish Cream liqueur, is reportedly planning a new £10-million ($15m) Irish whiskey distillery near its existing Londonderry production facility. According to the Belfast Telegraph, the group is considering creating its own whiskey brand from production at the prospective Londonderry site. In addition to St. Brendan’s, Niche Drinks produces a range of cream liqueurs and premixed cocktails for clients including major retailers like Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Aldi and Asda. With Irish whiskey growing rapidly, especially in the U.S. market, a number of new distillery projects have been launched. Currently, only three distilleries are in operation in Ireland: Beam Inc.’s Cooley (which recently said it would reduce contract production to focus on its Kilbeggan brand); Diageo’s Bushmills; and Pernod Ricard’s Irish Distillers.
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Tagged : Irish whiskey, Luxco, Proximo, Southern Comfort
