Beverage Brands to create WKD variant
Beverage Brands is is to launch a clear variant of its vodka-based WKD premium packaged spirit (PPS), to be called WKD Silver.
The launch is an attempt to broaden the brand’s appeal to include more sophisticated drinkers, particularly women. It will backed by a &£2m marketing spend.
The launch budget for Silver takes the total marketing budget for WKD to &£20m, according to Beverage Brands marketing manager Karen Salters.
Salters says Silver, which is a clear, less-sweet version of WKD, is the result of research and should appeal to both men and women. WKD, which has a strong male bias, is number three in the UK PPS market.
Advertising for Silver will use the same “Have you got a WKD side?” strapline as the brand’s previous work, which has caused controversy. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) recently criticised Beverage Brands for a trade ad featuring a “flasher” with his genitals obscured by a bottle of WKD, which the ASA ruled as being offensive.
WKD’s current television advertising campaign has an execution featuring a rear view of a naked man. But Salters does not think it will cause any controversy, adding that the company checked the ad with the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre. She says: “It’s quite childish, really.”
Advertising for WKD is created by Big Communications and media buying by John Ayling & Associates. The latest TV campaign includes an execution where a group of friends dare each other to drop their swimming trunks on a crowded beach. Only one of them does, and a rear shot shows him running into the sea before the brand’s strapline ends the ad.
