Two examples of vodka indulgence that need no help from elaborate displays, selling their offer straight from the shelf through sheer tastefulness.
Adding a flavour without spoiling the cool chic of the category has become a bit of an arms race, and Belvedere’s coloured punt is only a rehash of a technique pioneered by Absolut and now used widely. But unlike the quite honestly cheesy graphics of Grey Goose (the amazingly successful brand of French vodka for the visually impaired), this brand really works the see-through cliché to maximum effect. I can also most hear the clip clop of horses on a frosty winter morning, as a carriage pulls up outside the home of minor Polish Royalty.
Meanwhile Stolichnaya really captures the transition of Russia from communist austerity to billionaire’s playground. It has a design foot in both camps, but it’s clear where this line extension fits in to that story: Decadent, smooth and rich with an exotic accent.