Bringing the crowd to the winery   

The industry has seen consumers suggest ingredients, flavors, brand names and more for new products; however, Columbia Crest is taking crowdsourcing into new territory — the vineyard, to be specific. During the next 17 months, consumers can visit crowdsourcedcabernet.com to determine how grapes are tended, irrigated, harvested and blended through weekly votes, which will result in its Crowdsourced Cabernet Sauvignon varietal. Approximately 1,000 cases of the 2014 vintage wine will be available for purchase in the United States, online and in the Columbia Crest tasting room in Paterson, Wash.

Shopping for a cause   

Most people are empathetic to social and environmental challenges around the world, but are they willing to pay more for products that support such causes? Market research firm Nielsen conducted a global survey of more than 30,000 respondents in 60 countries to find out.
As a result, the study determined that:

42% of American respondents said that they are willing to pay more for products and services that come from companies that are committed to positive social and environmental impact; and 40% said they had purchased a product or service in the past six months because they knew the company was committed to positive social and environmental impact.

Top causes

• 49% of U.S. respondents are “extremely concerned” about providing access to clean water;
• 46% are extremely concerned about fighting diseases like cancers, diabetes and lung diseases; and
• 45% are extremely concerned about eradicating poverty and hunger.

Six decades of distilling

 To celebrate the 60th work anniversary of Wild Turkey bourbon Master Distiller Jimmy Russell, who now is considered the longest-tenured active Master Distiller in the world, Campari America released Wild Turkey Diamond Anniversary. Crafted by his son Eddie, the limited-edition bourbon combines 13- and 16-year-old whiskeys and features notes of caramel and vanilla with a spicy oak finish, the company says. Since his first day on the job in 1954, Jimmy Russell has created or co-created at least 10 bourbons, invented one of the first honey-flavored bourbons, was inducted into the Bourbon Hall of Fame, and received a formal acclamation in the Kentucky legislature thanking him for his life-long contributions to the bourbon industry and Commonwealth of Kentucky.  

Cable debut

After 25 years in business, Reed’s Inc. launched its first national cable advertising campaign. The four-week ad campaign, which ran this summer, showed the company founder talking about what goes into Reed’s Ginger Brew: fresh ginger root, spices, fruit juices and honey. The ad also included positive testimonials and ended with a jump in the pool, a “cheers,” and a promise that “you’ll never drink another ginger ale again.”

Seen and heard

Although posters usually are seen and not heard, Crystal Light partnered with U.K.-based conductive ink startup Novalia to create a playable Crystal Light poster with music especially from Miranda Lambert’s 30-city Platinum tour this summer. The poster combines touch and sound with printed graphics to allow concert-goers to “spin” the record on the poster and unlock audio tracks from the country music artist’s new album. To make the poster, Novalia printed conductive ink on the reverse side of the poster, creating touch sensors that can pick up electrical signals from fingers and prompt the processor and electric speaker to play the music.

Illustrated tradition

To honor the cast of characters in the Bacardí family tree, Bacardi Ltd. released a graphic novel telling the family’s story. “The Spirit of Bacardí” graphic novel focuses on Emilio Bacardí, son of Founder Don Facundo Bacardí Massó, and his work for Cuban independence in the late 1800s. Emilio Bacardí was repeatedly imprisoned and exiled for his belief in an independent Cuba but persevered, eventually becoming the first freely elected mayor of Santiago de Cuba, the company says. The story also touches upon early challenges that the Bacardí family faced and overcame — including an earthquake that destroyed their city and a fire that ravaged their distillery — and ends with the creation of the original Cuba Libre cocktail in 1900. The graphic novel is designed to promote the authenticity of the brand while showing consumers the family history that backs up the brand’s bold attitude, it says.

A whiskey toast

In preparation for the opening of its new distillery this month, Tullamore D.E.W. Irish whiskey launched its “Parting Glass” campaign to search for the best toasts to mark the beginning of life’s new chapters. The “Parting Glass” is a time-honored way of marking the closure of one life chapter and celebrating the beginning of the next, according to the brand. The brand invited fans to share their own “Parting Glass” moments online to enter to win a trip to Ireland to attend the distillery’s opening celebrations this month. Coinciding with the competition, the brand also created a series of sharable videos that fans can personalize and share with friends to toast new homes, new jobs and other new chapters in life.

The process of unlearning

Belvedere Vodka expanded its “Know the Difference” marketing campaign with an “Unlearn/Relearn” extension. The new portion of the program challenges consumers to rethink the general perception that clear vodkas should be tasteless, colorless and odorless, the company says. Instead, it strives to show consumers that high-quality vodka is “one of the smoothest and best-tasting spirits when it uses the finest ingredients and hails from a long history of vodka-making tradition,” it says.  The campaign extension includes two parts — “Unlearn tasteless, odorless, colorless. Relearn rye, water, character,” and “Unlearn can I buy you a drink. Relearn can I buy you a martini,” — that are designed to teach consumers more about quality vodka.