According to The Wall Street Journal, sales of super-premium liquors costing $150 or more a bottle were the fastest growing category in the U.S. last year, with revenue rising 18% to $2.19 billion.
Johnnie Walker Blue Label–a $200 bottle–is working to capture a larger slice of that revenue. The brand sponsors about 100 gallery openings and events in New York, as well as private gallery parties in Chicago and Los Angeles, in an effort to court Blue Label’s core customer. Diageo (the brand’s parent company) has also commissioned a series of digitally enhanced ads by Warren du Preez and Nick Thornton-Jones, a London-based artistic team whose past work includes collaborations with Icelandic songstress Björk.
Chris Parsons, Diageo’s vice president of scotch marketing, said people making less than $100,000 like to do things that make them feel like millionaires, like buying a unique piece of art, or indulging in a super-premium scotch.
Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker.
Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker.