The Mendis Difference, Part I

Since I have been discussing our marketing strategy over the past week, today I wanted to continue on this topic and provide you more of an insight into our image and brand philosophy. At Mendis we have spent the last 7 years on Research and Development for Mendis coconut brandy. It has definitely not been an overnight process. We took a hard look at the global alcohol market and said, “Where is there a gap in the market? What product do people want but is not being provided in the market today?”. These are the gaps that we saw:

1) While the vodka, rum and now recently tequila, sectors are growing, the brandy market had been essentially dead. While in the past 5 years almost 260 new vodka brands have come out, last year brandy had a great grand total of 2 new products.
2) Consumers don’t want just any run-of-the-mill product now-a-days. They want superior high-quality product produced using the finest methods, ingredients and materials.
3) People love flavor, hence the trend in flavored vodkas and rum. However, there is concern among consumers about artificial flavors, preservatives and additives that maybe added. With a “flavored” alcohol product a consumer has no idea what extra ingredients are in the bottle.

The reason why we chose brandy is because of 1) the alcohol category is one where the utmost attention to distillation and maturation is paid, 2) we knew that brandy had the potential to be reinvigorated but only with a truly outstanding product.

We wanted to bring to market a product that would be absolutely different to what anyone has seen. We succeeded in bringing that product to light- a clear brandy made from coconut.

To ensure the product has the highest-quality production and craftsmanship, Mendis Coconut Brandy is produced using only the finest machinery from France to distill the product. In addition, handmade casks are made by our in-house cooper from special local wood that enables us to mature a clear spirit, without any discoloring from the wood.

With what we, and now, more and more people are viewing as a totally unique and exquisite new alcohol product, we wanted to make sure the branding and packaging for the product embodied this. We spent countless hours, reviewing every single alcohol bottle shape in the market, what style worked and what didn't. In the end we came to the conclusion that the simpler the design, the more classic it was. I personally found the existing brandy/Cognac bottles as boring and old, even so much so to the extent they turned me off from buying them. We were extremely attracted to the vodka/wine bottle shapes, clean tall and elegant, what we considered a perfect match for our product.

You will note from our bottle to all marketing, branding and advertising that we create, will be simple, elegant with minimal clutter. We’re selling a premium one-of-a-kind spirit, not a half-dressed girl draped on the bottle. (I personally never understood why alcohol companies do that, yes sex sells, but almost half of drinkers are female… but that’s another story, see Cherise’s comments on our Brand Ambassadors here). Our product is our appeal. The Mendis bottle is definitely a style that will standout in stores next to the dreary brown brandy/Cognac bottles.

(Read “The Mendis Difference, Part II”, tomorrow)