As I sit trying to pen this piece down (or rather rant) and trying to find my tone, I’m weary of sounding like a pompous angry black guy, but ultimately this needs to be said; as I have said before barring our “sophisticated” brethren cognac (“sophisticated” because I have seen some of the ways cognac is consumed and it leaves much to be desired and very far from the way the French masters intended) brandy is still seen as being the inferior brother to cognac; you know that uncle who always arrives at family affairs drunk as a skunk smelling like combined mixture of a gin and vodka distillery, that guy who manages spill the day’s supply of umqombothi (sorghum beer) or for our less culture inclined folk, destroys Christmas turkey.
Yeah that guy. You find that people are more willing to be seen drinking brandy at a shebeen or a grand f*#king piss up where you’ll find copious amounts of it being consumed in a mixture of coke or in a nip bottle that can be easily concealed. Blerrie hell I’m tired of Frikkie asking me if I’m keen to join him after the rugby for a night filled with brandy and coke dosed with Afrikaans banter about how the quota system is fucking up rugby with phrases such as “ja nee…” before he starts a sentence.
If urban culture is to be followed and noted brandy just holds no value in today’s urban culture. If I am to make a simple observation, go into any “cool” party like Head Honcho, Pop Bottles, Da Les All White Party and the like, or some of our premium establishments eKasi or the Burbs, let’s take Cape Town as an example because the disparities of the haves and have-nots are easily discernible but both have one thing in common; they know which liquor holds value or is greater currency in terms of status whether you are at Sky Lounge in Gugulethu, Groova Lounge in Khayelitsha, Caprice in Camps Bay or CoCo in the CBD, what you will find is volumes upon volumes of premium vodka on 90% of tables, you might find one or two tables with a bottle of Remy Martin or Hennessy.
The simple reason for that is that Vodka holds what I like to call “Currency”. This Currency determines what you will be remembered for. Such as “lamjita webrandy” translated the “brandy guy”; implying a cheap guy. Flip to the other side let’s say you buy three or four bottle of belvedere you will be known as the guy who balled outa control and from then onwards people will be searching for your name. Now what these brands and categories have done and done well is aligning themselves to urban culture and speaking the language. Which is what brandy and to a lesser extent cognac has failed to do.
It’s clear, really, Vodka brands trip over themselves trying to sponsor Da Les’ All White Party because they understand that he holds currency and they too should buy into that to increase the value of their currency. It’s an exercise that is easily quantifiable. Whiskey is fast becoming a category that is no longer limited to the discerning tongues of the boardroom or closing business deals, its appeal to urban culture has grown in leaps and bounds.
Some may be saying, “but maybe brandy doesn’t want to appeal to urban youth”. Fair enough, but every company wants to increase volumes and market share. Who holds the buying power? Urban youth so you cannot just disregard the people with the buying power! Fault cannot be put solely on the brand ambassadors or managers of brandies because they try their best with the limited resources they are given or the limited options in terms of what they can do.
To be quite frank if something is not done and done soon we will continue to see the decline of brandy volumes. South African brandies are highly regarded as the best in the world and compete head on with the finest spirits in the world; cognac included (they tend to enjoy discerning the difference between the two but I would like to categorically state, no pun intended, that they fall under the same category) as such I see no reason for this fine spirit to be facing its detriment.
I would like to see more being done to save our eau de vie, our elixir of life. What can be done? Appeal to the desired drinker in their own language on their own terms. Build a repertoire an appeal of table currency as the drink that holds value in the consumers mind, brandy is built on heritage and quality. Play to the advantage that today’s cool brands such as Adidas and Nike are doing. These brands are going back to original designs and silhouettes in their clothing ranges because it’s what is regarded as relevant.
If brands do not want to alienate the heritage drinkers of an older generation, brand make overs need only be done on entry level ranges. Let’s look at a case study, Remy Martin did it with their VSOP and linked their campaign to music; urban youth appeal. Hennessy did it with the VS mixology series again youth appeal. Brandy brands need to attach themselves to what is cool and relevant to today’s urban youth to garner relationships that will grow into longstanding relationships with the category.