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Category: Case Studies
December 27, 2023 / Miles Marmo
Sliq Spirited Ice Brand Development and Launch
Jel Sert is the nation’s largest producer of frozen novelties with brands like Otter Pops and Flavor-Ice. This family business was built on bringing innovative desserts to the masses, and with that expertise they wanted to expand into a new category – alcohol. Sliq Spirited Ice was created to broaden Jel Sert’s product portfolio and reach new consumers by creating an entirely new category within the alcohol space.
Services Provided:
Business Consulting
Product Development
Consumer Segmentation
Branding
Packaging Design
Website Design & Development
Marketing
Advertising
Client:
Jel Sert (Sliq Spirited Ice)
Project:
Product Launch
B2C/B2B
Adult Beverage
Frozen Novelties
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Our Approach
Because Jel Sert had never been in the alcohol space, it leaned on our guidance in structuring the new alcohol brand while we leveraged its experience in the frozen novelties space. Together we worked on defining flavors, ABV, price point, branding, and a go-to-market strategy that would support Jel Sert’s investment.KEY ISSUESSliq Spirited Ice was creating a category. There are three to five national brands in this boozy frozen novelty segment, but no brand had ever focused on a marketing strategy of education and adoption. The other brands created product and placed it on retail shelves without any retail support. The education component, as part of the Sliq strategy, was not only to engage the consumer but more importantly to build relationships with distributors to get the product on the shelf, then educate retailers and consumers of the product attributes in order to turn product.
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We named the product “Sliq” and added the modifier “Spirited Ice” to communicate frozen novelty plus alcohol content. We then focused on building assets that would help the internal sales team sell into distribution while creating and executing on a strategy that allowed the marketing team to reach new audiences.
HITTING THE MARKET
BRAND
Creative: Iconic and impactful “on shelf” presence that visually pulled away from the “me-too” competition. The mark was designed to communicate the icy nature of the product and provide the frozen novelty nostalgia feel of a premium product.
VISUALS
Packaging: It was key to differentiate the product from competitors. We created a custom die line centered around the iceberg and designed scenes around it to give the product a premium feel. While almost all competitors are in a plastic tub, we chose recyclable materials consumers would prefer to purchase. Website: We designed and built a mobile first site to engage consumers on the go/at retail in a way that educated about product attributes in a memorable way.
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Results
The new brand has been picked up by retailers across the country with purchase orders preparing the brand for a summer 2020 launch. Several of the country’s top 10 distributors are taking the brand on and making it a priority, aligning it with the “healthy for you” category including hard seltzers, wines, and organic beers. The brand has been picked up by several notable publications driving viewership of the website as consumers eagerly wait for the brand to hit stores.
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