The document discusses how being merely "local" or "new" is not enough for brands to achieve sustainable success globally. It argues that brands need to have something remarkable or exceptional about their product, brand, and proposition. The document presents examples of brands that have succeeded by having an interesting brand that connects a unique product to a compelling way of communicating and activating around the brand. It emphasizes that brands need to link being interesting with having a great product in a distinctive way to have a sustainable proposition beyond just being local or new.

1. WHY ‘LOCAL’ & ‘NEW’
IS NOT ENOUGH!
Session 01
#BrandStarter

2. This is about having a sustainable proposition to enable your brand to
grow to global success.

3. The Golden Years

4. It’s exciting when you first launch a brand - you get to sell it
directly to people, get good reactions, and you see some cash
starting to come in finally!

5. After selling locally, often in your second year, you start exploring
other markets – heading to key influential cities…

6. …and this is where some brands find their first challenge. You’re not
local any longer, and other brands launch, so you’re no longer the
latest thing.

7. There are many examples to show just how crowded the alcohol
market is getting. Take the example of gin in Galicia – Nordès
launched as a Galician gin a few years ago, and now there are five
Galician gins …

8. The UK now has over 50 gin distilleries …

9. New York State has six whiskies on sale, another 20 producing
stock, and several more being built …

10. As Brian Ellison from Death’s Door puts it – you have to be
exceptional first, and local second. In other words, have
something remarkable about you and your product and your
brand – don’t just rely on being local.

11. Let’s take a look at the challenge of relying on being “new…”

12. Vermouth is a category that has seen a huge amount of innovation
– you can’t just be “the new vermouth…” because next month you
might not be.

13. You can’t be the “new Irish whisky” – from five distilleries five years
ago, there are now over 20…

14. You won’t be new for long

15. What does exceptional
look like?

16. This is a tool we use at Distill Ventures to help entrepreneurs
keep in mind what they should focus on. It’s a way of breaking
down your business into the core elements.

17. The core is the three bricks in the middle.
These need to be supported by your business basics (cashflow,
supply chain, logistics) and the broader skills of being a great
entrepreneur (resilience, inspiring belief, leading brilliantly…)

18. We have five because you can easily spin through each of them
on one hand to check you’re not forgetting any area of your
business.

19. But in this session we’re focusing on these two – as it’s the
combination of these two elements that creates a sustainable
proposition that’s more than “local” or “new”.

20. Let’s talk about “Being Interesting” – that’s our framework for thinking about what could be
called your brand, your brand proposition, brand belief… there are many different frameworks,
but we like to simplify this to “Being interesting”, because we think that it’s the brands which
manage to be constantly interesting – in a way which is consistent and joined up – is what
makes brands successful these days (versus the old days when you came up with a tagline,
built a billboard, and that was that).

21. Being Interesting helps you succeed in today’s world – the old advertising world was static,
but the new conversational world is not. You can’t just say the same phrase on social media
again and again. It would get boring. You need a common theme, but a new way to talk about
it every week and every month to keep it interesting and engaging.
The next few slides show some brands we admire – they’re not Distill Ventures brands,
rather a collection of brands which we feel do a good job of linking together a product and a
way of being interesting.
***************

22. Monkey 47 was a really exceptional product. Until then, 10 seemed like a big
number of botanicals. Then they came along with 47, and a really distinctive
taste. All this was delivered in a very different bottle, with a unique cork
stopper. It was – and remains – brilliantly distinctive.

23. But the key is that this links with a way of behaving, and a style of visual imagery,
that is really consistent with the bottle, liquid and personality.
It has a story about an adventurer who ended up living in the Black Forest, but
stories are only interesting when they are living ways of behaving, not just a page
on the website. All of Monkey’s communications and activations live this story.

24. St Germain blew everyone away with a completely unique bottle –
it felt like something historical you’d just discovered, and the liquid
was something totally new.

25. And again, it’s about the seamless connection between this and all
the rest of its communication, which evokes a timeless image of
France, the countryside, and special occasions.

26. Fair is a range of Fairtrade drinks. It shows that exceptional need
not mean a fancy pack – this is an incredibly simple design, but
the link between the idea of fair-trade, a simple honest design and
a vodka made from quinoa all links together really coherently…

27. This continues in their imagery and how they talk about the brand.

28. Brenne is a whisky from France, matured in cognac barrels.
It’s something totally new in whisky, and has a pack which breaks
many of the whisky rules in colours and shape.

29. And it’s really different in that it’s run by a woman who celebrates
women in whisky and introduces new people to the world of whisky
by acting in a very different way from traditional Scotch and
bourbon.

30. Belsazar is a vermouth from Germany – not an area renowned for Vermouth
production, even though there is a German link to the origin of the word
Vermouth.
So Belsazar breaks the category rules of vermouth to focus on why a German
vermouth is interesting – playing up its quality credentials from German wines.

31. And talking about its provenance and German quality story to
establish why a vermouth can (and should) come from somewhere
other than Italy or France.

32. Whistlepig is interesting because they have a mission: rye whisky.
Their straight rye is a great product in a pack which plays to some
American whisky cues, but with a real sense of originality.

33. This all links to their belief: rye whisky is the original and best American whisky and it
should be reintroduced in place of all the corn based whisky which hasn’t served the
American drinker well.
Having a passionate perspective on the world, or on a category of drinks, is a great
way to “be interesting”

34. Bán Poitín is a a new entry into a new category – or at least a newly legal
category. Poitín was banned in Ireland for a few hundred years and only legalised
a decade ago. The first new poitíns were what you’d expect – named after places
and mountains and very traditionally Irish. Bán plays on a different aspect – the
resilience of poitín in surviving as an illicit tradition during those years.

35. It’s a great liquid which combines the three classic style of poitín in
one liquid, so it’s like a living homage to the tradition, but also with a
fresh rebellious take on the world.

36. This is another great example of a tight connection between the
name, the liquid (gin with botanicals foraged across the island of
Islay) and the bottle (which calls out the unique flavours).

37. And their activation and imagery is really focused on delivering this
single message.

38. What makes a great
proposition?

39. A GREAT PRODUCT
(AND A COMPELLING WAY
TO TALK ABOUT IT)
BEING INTERESTING
(IN A WAY THAT’S UNIQUE TO YOU, AND
GETS NOTICED)
CONNECTING THESE TWO THINGS
INTO SOMETHING DISTINCTIVE

40. thank you