sun cruiser vodka tea
go-to-market brand launch
the problem
The alcoholic beverage market is about as saturated as it has ever been, making category brand debuts no light task. During my 6 years with The Boston Beer Company, our innovation team has launched nearly a dozen completely new brands, attempting to find whitespace where we can.
Most of those innovation brands have since been discontinued or are still struggling to get noticed - but sometimes all of your research, testing and planning intersects perfectly with the culture of the moment your target audience is living in: enter Sun Cruiser.
At the time of launch, RTD cocktails and hard tea were individually both the fastest growing segments in alc. bev. So why not put the two together in a fizz-free premium RTD cocktail, right? There was only one other brand making a splash into the premium hard tea segment, so we knew there was plenty of room under the sun to grow - and boy, did we.
Most of those innovation brands have since been discontinued or are still struggling to get noticed - but sometimes all of your research, testing and planning intersects perfectly with the culture of the moment your target audience is living in: enter Sun Cruiser.
At the time of launch, RTD cocktails and hard tea were individually both the fastest growing segments in alc. bev. So why not put the two together in a fizz-free premium RTD cocktail, right? There was only one other brand making a splash into the premium hard tea segment, so we knew there was plenty of room under the sun to grow - and boy, did we.
cruising to a top RTD spirit brand.
Working with our in-house creative department, I provided the team with much of the visual content which would lay the foundation for a brand that would eventually become a categorical leader. We briefed, mood-boarded and planned together to curate a visual identity that conveyed an easy-going outdoor lifestyle brand. Along with the content I produced, I also worked with creative directors to direct a brand shoot in Malibu.