INTERVIEW: SHAPING CONSUMERS ONLINE
Interactive websites have grown tremendously in recent years as a platform for spirits companies to reel in new customers with things like cocktail recipes, sweepstakes and on-premise events. But just how much do these websites actually influence consumer choice?
WSD sat down with Jon Winsell, Chief Strategist at ID Society – an interactive, full-service relationship marketing agency – to discuss the recent launch of 1800 Tequila’s site, and figure out just how important interactive websites actually are in building a strong consumer base. Their other clients include Baileys, Captain Morgan, Crown Royal, Johnnie Walker and Pepsi.
Megan: What does building an interactive website like this do to help shape the brand?
Jon Winsell: One of the things our company tried to do for 1800 Tequila was to create not just an informative website but a marketing platform that can speak to 1800 Tequila’s changing needs throughout the year. That includes things like different promos, different events, and different callouts, which is why we went with a large billboard splash area with different callouts and promotional items on it. We can swap out the various promos and events on the webpage as new things come around. Whether it’s the “margarita makeover” or one of the different publicity events that are going on - including various on-premise events such as sweepstakes - we are able to support that online.
It’s more than just a platform. I think spirits companies often get their little corporate brochure online and let people register so they can send emails to consumers, but that’s about it. That’s what I call two-dimensional in scope. But by adding an exciting promotional platform like this, it makes the website a little more 3-dimensial.
What I like about our program is the ability for off-line events, like the tastings off-premise and on-premise, to drive online activity. Consumers will see 1800tequila.com on some of the material at an event, such as clackers and lanyards or whatever they take away, and they can go online later and register for more information. It was amazing that while we were redesigning the page we threw up a splash page just to let consumers know that something new was coming. We knew that with the “margarita makeover” and the “ultimate margarita launch” there would be a lot of activity around the brand, so we wanted to capture at least some consumer information which we built into the splash page. Although I can’t release any numbers, the number of consumers we captured in the pre-launch phase was almost equal to the annual anticipated number we thought we’d capture after the launch. So we were very excited about the number of consumers that were interested in the brand and that were actually being driven to the website after an event to learn more or to join the sweepstakes. Mainly, it’s just a really great promotional platform, a flexible platform.
Megan: How does the website itself pull consumers from merely viewing the site to actually purchasing the product?
Jon: I think that if a customer feels a direct connection with the brand it becomes their call and they feel like they own that brand – so, yes, I think there are things online that can actually enhance and drive consumption patterns. It’s the spirits business so it’s all about depletions and moving cases.
One of the things I’m most looking forward to in the coming months is putting mixed-drink recipes on the site, complete with nice pictures and flash that suggests there are other ways to mix tequila. People historically think of tequila as something to drink on the rocks or in a margarita. But the largest and most exciting area of expansion is with the 1800 Silver Tequila because you can put it in a cosmopolitan or a mojito, and a lot of consumers aren’t thinking of tequila in that way. I think that expanding outside of the traditional margarita is going to be a strong area of focus for growth and consumption.
Megan: When you’re building an interactive site like this, how do you determine what is relevant to a consumer?
Jon: It’s twofold. One thing I think that sets us apart from other people that build websites is that we fully immerse ourselves in the brand. Not just buzzwords, but learning exactly who the brand thinks they are because there is a difference in perception between who the brand thinks they are and what the consumer thinks of the brand. So we’ll do a little gap analysis and make sure that the corporation isn’t just drinking its own kool-aid – and that the website is an accurate reflection of where the brand is in the marketplace and who represents this brand. We’ve worked very closely with 1800 Tequila on ensuring they can articulate who the target is by asking the right questions. That’s where the relevancy comes in because once we understand who the target is, where they live, and what they do – then we can come up with relevant content that makes the site attractive to them.
I think the website is indicative of the brand and its approachability. It gives consumers a sense of how real 1800 Tequila. The brand isn’t fake and it doesn’t pretend to be something that it’s not. So we try to make sure that comes through on the site, mainly in the moments and the imagery we selected for the site – which is mainly group shots. There’s not a singles shot or even a couples shot because 1800 Tequila is a social drink and these people are having fun. It’s tequila and it’s about fun. I’m surprised often that different companies straight-jacket their brands, and they don’t let them live or breathe. 1800 Tequila is fun. It’s not Jose Cuervo but it’s not Patron, and we tried to make that come through with the imagery and messaging.
Megan: What demographics would you say you’re targeting with this website?
Jon: I’m cautious in answering that but clearly they’re looking for the male and female audience in the 25 to 38 range. The demographic is people that not only go out, but those that want to keep a good bottle of tequila at home and share with friends.
I will say that the new margarita mix, the RTD that just came out, has a little different target demographic that is moving more towards women and social gatherings at home. 1800 has come up with a really good pre-mix with the tequila already in it that you just open and pour over ice. Men typically like to mix drinks whereas women like to drink drinks – that’s a very gross generalization but the bottom-line is that women don’t have to build anything with this product.
Megan: Will you tell me a little about loyalty programs?
Jon: Often, certain brands miss the mark on loyalty. They think that just because they built it and just because the label has their name on it, that people love it. And certainly there’s something to be said for that. But the web is interactive. At ID Society we approach the website with the idea that it’s not just asking a consumer to register on a site, but asking them to belong to something. People like that sense of authenticity and realness that 1800 Tequila provides and they want to aspire and belong to it, so they are encouraged to register and learn more about the brand. After registering, the consumer will get the inside information and get invited to the next event – it’s about that sense of belonging rather than just registering and getting some junk piece.
Megan: Would you say that the internet is the future of advertising in general, particularly with interactive websites like yours and things like youtube.com? Especially for spirits companies who have chosen not to advertise on television networks.
Jon: To call it the future negates where we are now and the past. The fact of the matter is that a lot of the spirits brands jumped to the internet fast and learned to do more because they could spend a little more money there since they weren’t spending it on network television.
You mentioned YouTube which obviously is video-based, and I think videos are part of the key. That’s why we have a video player on there and we hope to do a little more with that later. I’m not saying that the internet wants to be TV when it grows up, but it wants to be more than TV. It wants to be interactive TV. So that consumers don’t have to just look at flat pictures and still stuff, coming up with relative videos that mean something is very important. One example would be if you look at some of the stuff we did for Crown Television which has a built in player with episodes and offers quite a bit of relative content for the consumer. So it’s got to be relative, it’s got to mean something to the consumer – not just video for video’s sake.
I think the future is definitely in the interactive realm where you can do more and capture a little more consumer information along with understanding them a little better. That way, you can set up a special voice to message to them that you can’t do in TV and print advertising. I think there’s an engagement factor, meaning getting engaged with the brand in a way you can’t do with print and TV. It will be challenging to see how sprits and other brands step up to this. There are ways to be reverent to a brand but have fun with it and be interactive at the same time.
WSD sat down with Jon Winsell, Chief Strategist at ID Society – an interactive, full-service relationship marketing agency – to discuss the recent launch of 1800 Tequila’s site, and figure out just how important interactive websites actually are in building a strong consumer base. Their other clients include Baileys, Captain Morgan, Crown Royal, Johnnie Walker and Pepsi.
Megan: What does building an interactive website like this do to help shape the brand?
Jon Winsell: One of the things our company tried to do for 1800 Tequila was to create not just an informative website but a marketing platform that can speak to 1800 Tequila’s changing needs throughout the year. That includes things like different promos, different events, and different callouts, which is why we went with a large billboard splash area with different callouts and promotional items on it. We can swap out the various promos and events on the webpage as new things come around. Whether it’s the “margarita makeover” or one of the different publicity events that are going on - including various on-premise events such as sweepstakes - we are able to support that online.
It’s more than just a platform. I think spirits companies often get their little corporate brochure online and let people register so they can send emails to consumers, but that’s about it. That’s what I call two-dimensional in scope. But by adding an exciting promotional platform like this, it makes the website a little more 3-dimensial.
What I like about our program is the ability for off-line events, like the tastings off-premise and on-premise, to drive online activity. Consumers will see 1800tequila.com on some of the material at an event, such as clackers and lanyards or whatever they take away, and they can go online later and register for more information. It was amazing that while we were redesigning the page we threw up a splash page just to let consumers know that something new was coming. We knew that with the “margarita makeover” and the “ultimate margarita launch” there would be a lot of activity around the brand, so we wanted to capture at least some consumer information which we built into the splash page. Although I can’t release any numbers, the number of consumers we captured in the pre-launch phase was almost equal to the annual anticipated number we thought we’d capture after the launch. So we were very excited about the number of consumers that were interested in the brand and that were actually being driven to the website after an event to learn more or to join the sweepstakes. Mainly, it’s just a really great promotional platform, a flexible platform.
Megan: How does the website itself pull consumers from merely viewing the site to actually purchasing the product?
Jon: I think that if a customer feels a direct connection with the brand it becomes their call and they feel like they own that brand – so, yes, I think there are things online that can actually enhance and drive consumption patterns. It’s the spirits business so it’s all about depletions and moving cases.
One of the things I’m most looking forward to in the coming months is putting mixed-drink recipes on the site, complete with nice pictures and flash that suggests there are other ways to mix tequila. People historically think of tequila as something to drink on the rocks or in a margarita. But the largest and most exciting area of expansion is with the 1800 Silver Tequila because you can put it in a cosmopolitan or a mojito, and a lot of consumers aren’t thinking of tequila in that way. I think that expanding outside of the traditional margarita is going to be a strong area of focus for growth and consumption.
Megan: When you’re building an interactive site like this, how do you determine what is relevant to a consumer?
Jon: It’s twofold. One thing I think that sets us apart from other people that build websites is that we fully immerse ourselves in the brand. Not just buzzwords, but learning exactly who the brand thinks they are because there is a difference in perception between who the brand thinks they are and what the consumer thinks of the brand. So we’ll do a little gap analysis and make sure that the corporation isn’t just drinking its own kool-aid – and that the website is an accurate reflection of where the brand is in the marketplace and who represents this brand. We’ve worked very closely with 1800 Tequila on ensuring they can articulate who the target is by asking the right questions. That’s where the relevancy comes in because once we understand who the target is, where they live, and what they do – then we can come up with relevant content that makes the site attractive to them.
I think the website is indicative of the brand and its approachability. It gives consumers a sense of how real 1800 Tequila. The brand isn’t fake and it doesn’t pretend to be something that it’s not. So we try to make sure that comes through on the site, mainly in the moments and the imagery we selected for the site – which is mainly group shots. There’s not a singles shot or even a couples shot because 1800 Tequila is a social drink and these people are having fun. It’s tequila and it’s about fun. I’m surprised often that different companies straight-jacket their brands, and they don’t let them live or breathe. 1800 Tequila is fun. It’s not Jose Cuervo but it’s not Patron, and we tried to make that come through with the imagery and messaging.
Megan: What demographics would you say you’re targeting with this website?
Jon: I’m cautious in answering that but clearly they’re looking for the male and female audience in the 25 to 38 range. The demographic is people that not only go out, but those that want to keep a good bottle of tequila at home and share with friends.
I will say that the new margarita mix, the RTD that just came out, has a little different target demographic that is moving more towards women and social gatherings at home. 1800 has come up with a really good pre-mix with the tequila already in it that you just open and pour over ice. Men typically like to mix drinks whereas women like to drink drinks – that’s a very gross generalization but the bottom-line is that women don’t have to build anything with this product.
Megan: Will you tell me a little about loyalty programs?
Jon: Often, certain brands miss the mark on loyalty. They think that just because they built it and just because the label has their name on it, that people love it. And certainly there’s something to be said for that. But the web is interactive. At ID Society we approach the website with the idea that it’s not just asking a consumer to register on a site, but asking them to belong to something. People like that sense of authenticity and realness that 1800 Tequila provides and they want to aspire and belong to it, so they are encouraged to register and learn more about the brand. After registering, the consumer will get the inside information and get invited to the next event – it’s about that sense of belonging rather than just registering and getting some junk piece.
Megan: Would you say that the internet is the future of advertising in general, particularly with interactive websites like yours and things like youtube.com? Especially for spirits companies who have chosen not to advertise on television networks.
Jon: To call it the future negates where we are now and the past. The fact of the matter is that a lot of the spirits brands jumped to the internet fast and learned to do more because they could spend a little more money there since they weren’t spending it on network television.
You mentioned YouTube which obviously is video-based, and I think videos are part of the key. That’s why we have a video player on there and we hope to do a little more with that later. I’m not saying that the internet wants to be TV when it grows up, but it wants to be more than TV. It wants to be interactive TV. So that consumers don’t have to just look at flat pictures and still stuff, coming up with relative videos that mean something is very important. One example would be if you look at some of the stuff we did for Crown Television which has a built in player with episodes and offers quite a bit of relative content for the consumer. So it’s got to be relative, it’s got to mean something to the consumer – not just video for video’s sake.
I think the future is definitely in the interactive realm where you can do more and capture a little more consumer information along with understanding them a little better. That way, you can set up a special voice to message to them that you can’t do in TV and print advertising. I think there’s an engagement factor, meaning getting engaged with the brand in a way you can’t do with print and TV. It will be challenging to see how sprits and other brands step up to this. There are ways to be reverent to a brand but have fun with it and be interactive at the same time.
posted at 8:51 AM
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