Public Relations / February 26, 2024
~ Creating a strong recall value for the brand that revolutionised the gin sector of the country ~
Context
NAO Spirits & Beverages is a homegrown Indian company with a portfolio of premium quality craft gin brands- Greater Than, India’s only London Dry Gin made in India launched in 2017 and Hapusa, Himalayan Dry Gin, launched in 2018. Taking inspiration from Indian spices, the brand has focused on paying homage to long lost Indian ingredients by infusing a wonderful blend of hand-picked Indian botanicals. NAO Spirits integrates the ingredients with contemporary spirits to give a distinctive aroma and flavour to the drink.
Greater Than has seven botanicals i.e lemongrass, ginger, chamomile, fennel, Spanish orange peel, German angelica and Italian orris root, apart from juniper and coriander seed, which feature in most gins. Hapusa is the first gin to be made with the Himalayan juniper berry, along with other distinctive ingredients such as gondhoraj lime, turmeric, ginger, cardamom, almond and mango, along with coriander seed.
Communication’s Narrative
The focus of the brand was to position NAO Spirits as the homegrown craft gin brand that has started the wave of “ginpreneurs” in the country. The brand approached us in the middle of the pandemic with an objective to highlight the business potential of NAO Spirits and required us to familiarise it with the potential stakeholders. The aim was also to show that Gin culture in India is still at a very nascent stage and the flame needs to be fanned for it to really take shape. New brands and launches add excitement and create overall interest in the category which is bound to benefit each brand individually.
Our Strategy
We intended to create a strong brand image and recall amidst the target audience and industry stakeholders through robust communication in the corporate press. The idea was not just limited to making the spokesperson a maestro in the gin segment but also positioning him as a reliable expert in the white spirits segment.
Our team at WBS strategically lined up business interactions with key financials and business magazines to discuss the expansion plan; the evolution of gin India and how gradually gin is becoming a popular drink in India. We amplified how gin as a segment was gaining popularity among the millennials and how its accessible price and varying flavours were propelling its reverence among the consumers. The articles also had to educate the masses about gin and how the combo of gin and tonic was created in India.
The Solution
Wishbox Studio, as the brand’s PR partner, helped in the NAO Spirits’ development and growth by highlighting various facets of the company through various profile stories, industry stories/inputs. This further added value and credibility to the brand’s operations and generated hype in the media fraternity.
Outcome
The pandemic disrupted several verticals and made 2020 one of the most crucial years from communication’s standpoint. This was strategically utilised by us as a PR agency while we put our best foot forward and delivered productive results to the client.
WBS did not only identify the right places to feature the brand but also connected the spokesperson with the right people by creating a strong connection with the media. Substantial profile stories and authored pieces were featured in the publications like The Economic Times, ET Prime, ET Hospitality, Mint, Money Control, India Today Spice, Entrepreneur etc. The funding news was very well received by the digital and offline press like Hindu BusinessLine, The Financial Express, VC Circle, Inc 42, YourStory and more.
