Grey Goose “Fly Beyond”: brilliant brand idea 2

In this second of our monthly posts on brilliant brand ideas, we look at premium vodka brand Grey Goose. Grey Goose's success is reflected in it being the most preferred vodka brand in the UK, with a score 50% higher than the next brand, Absolut. Volume sales grew 27% between 2006 and 2011, making it the 3rd biggest global brand, according to this report. 

Build on a brand truth

"Fly Beyond", is a great example of building off a brand truth, in this case the brand's name and symbol. This helps create memory structure, as the idea is strongly linked to the brand's distinctive properties. It reminds me a bit of Johnnie Walker and their "Keep walking" idea, again linked to the truth of the brand's name and symbol.

Sausage and sizzle 

A lot of spirits branding seems to rely solely on emotional lifestyle values. In contrast, Grey Goose's big idea, beautifully combines product "sausage" (careful selection of ingredients and "world's best tasting vodka") and emotional "sizzle" (ambitious and innovative people who make and drink the vodka). The brand's TV communication tells a product story in an emotionally involving way, showing the boldness of the drink's founder in creating a vodka in the cognac area of France, creating controversy in the process. You can click below to watch the ad on the blog, or see it here. 

Of course, many people may buy Grey Goose for its lifestyle values, but its nice to have some "permission to believe" in the way of a nice product story that helps justify paying a premium.

Brought to life across the mix

Like all great brand ideas, Fly Beyond is brought to life across the whole mix, not just communication. My attention was actually caught not by communication, but by a beautiful display at Heathrow airport. The idea is also used in an activation idea where you can win "Fly Beyond Experiences", such as private parties and red carpet entry to move premieres.

In conclusion, Grey Goose's big idea of Fly Beyond is a good example of how to build on a brand truth, combining emotional sizzle and product sausage, and bring this to life across the whole mix.