Stoli USA Sets New Premiumization Plan In Motion

Since setting up shop in January, SPI’s Stoli Group USA has made major moves to reinvigorate its Stolichnaya vodka franchise in the U.S. The storied brand—which currently sells around 1.5 million cases stateside, down from 2.2 million in 2007—has undergone a full repositioning, designed to put the focus on Stoli’s heritage and authenticity. Now, Stoli Group USA president John Esposito tells SND the company has also implemented a new premiumization strategy in the U.S., with plans to move Stoli further up the pricing ladder in the coming months.

“We’ve successfully moved our price up to premium, which was one of our goals this year,” says Esposito, adding that Stoli’s retail price now sits at around $25-$29 a 1.75-liter and $19 a 750-ml. “Previously, we were $3-$5 a bottle below Absolut. So right now we’re moving toward that, and we’ll continue to move it up. It’s where the brand belongs, and now that the advertising is there, we have a great opportunity to justify our pricing.”

The price push comes as Stoli kicks off its latest nationwide campaign, currently running under the tagline “THE Vodka.” The campaign, which includes TV, digital, print and out-of-home components, is set to run through 2015 across key metro markets, such as New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and Boston, among others.

In addition to supporting pricing changes, Stoli’s THE Vodka initiative aims to refocus consumer attention on the brand’s core flavors, including its blueberry, raspberry, vanilla and orange expressions. Concurrently, the brand has begun to phase out select SKUs within its flavored lineup, which previously totaled around 17 offerings.

“We’ve phased out around a half-dozen flavors, and we’re probably going to phase out a couple more,” says Esposito, citing the recently eliminated cranberry, white pomegranate and Gala apple labels, among others. “Once we get that done, we’ll look at what the future means in terms of what we do with flavors and what other kinds of innovations we bring to the party.”

Tagged : Stoli Group USA, Stolichnaya, vodka

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