The London Essence Company
Making a premium tonic iconic
Taking on category leaders with smart positioning and witty communication to launch a range of premium tonics for discerning cocktail drinkers.
The magic lies in the relationship between the tonic and the gin. The distilled essences in The London Essence Company’s range of premium tonics accentuate the taste profile of gin, but more importantly, the finer the gin, the more elevated the flavour profile. This was a superlative tonic, for superlative gins – a thought that became a clever positioning mechanism. By associating London Essence with the world’s finest spirits, we could elevate them above the premium and into a new super-premium category.
The London Essence Company came to us with a challenge: when launching a new range of premium mixers onto the market, how do you command a premium price and scale quickly across multiple markets?
The growth opportunity was clear: take on the category leader in existing markets and act like the first mover in market creation. In the UK, many contenders have been trying but failing to make significant inroads into the category leader’s dominance. However,
- No contender established a competitive advantage.
- No contender drove irrational preference.
- No contender demonstrated challenger behaviour.
We took a David vs Goliath approach:
- Defined London Essence’s competitive advantage to build irrational preference.
- Positioned London Essence as above this crowded market place.
- Adopted challenger behaviour to punch above our weight.
In high-end drinking culture consumers felt they pay excessively for super-premium spirits. Despite knowing this, they continue to accept this as the norm.
Our “Only the most…” campaign would translate these moments into witty provocative communications to create an emotional hook. The new design aesthetic borrows luxury codes from the fragrance category to emphasize the super-premium look.
The campaign was supported by social video, targeting bartenders and cocktail enthusiasts around the world, accompanied with trade press and point of sale. Already, London Essence has increased its on-trade and retail presence globally. Bring on 2019!