Drake’s drink tops LCBO launch sales
Singer’s Virginia Black Decadent American whiskey has sold 4,650 bottles since hitting shelves Sept. 30
Although Drake’s concert tour has been cancelled due to an ankle injury and his romance with Rihanna appears to be offagain, at least “The 6” is lifting his spirits.
The Toronto rapper’s new liquor brand, Virginia Black Decadent American Whiskey, has topped single-day launch sales at the LCBO — partly thanks to the agency pre-stocking 220 stores with the hotly anticipated product for the Sept. 30 launch.
Normally the LCBO introduces a new item at select stores and then fans out from there, explained spokeswoman Genevieve Tomney.
The LCBO sold 1,779 bottles on the last day of September and has now sold 775 cases (six bottles per case), a total of $186,000 in retail sales, she said.
By comparison, Diddy-backed Ciroc vodka sold 1,855 bottles in its first week of sales in June 2015.
“We would certainly characterize it as the best launch day for a single spirits product that LCBO has had in recent memory,” Tomney said.
“The results clearly show that this approach worked very well and it’s something we are certainly going to consider using for future product launches where there is a similar level of anticipated demand.”
“We would certainly characterize it as the best launch day for a single spirits product that LCBO has had in recent memory.” GENEVIEVE TOMNEY LCBO SPOKESWOMAN
The booze label sells for $39.95 and had been on back order online since an exclusive tasting preview last April for about 100 fans at the Summerhill location.
Virginia Black is a collaboration between the hip-hop star and L.A.based spirits maker Brent Hocking, known for his DeLeón Tequila.
The collection of two-, three- and four-year-old bourbon whiskey — which is made and spelled differently than Canadian whisky — has a high rye content and “is finished with a decadent profile,” says the website.
And while it’s boldly promoted as a “quest to redefine whiskey” with “glamour, swagger, soul,” marketing expert Jeff Swystun said celebrity brands often don’t have legs after the initial buzz wears off.
“People buy initially for the novelty of it but will soon return to proven brands,” said the president of Toronto’s Swystun Communications.
Many celebrities have had tie-ins with alcohol brands, from Willie Nelson’s whiskey to Justin Timberlake’s tequila (even Donald Trump’s nowextinct vodka). But it’s not always a recipe for success, he said.
“The relatively short shelf life of celebrity-endorsed liquors demonstrates that too often the actual product is poor quality but priced high.”
For example, Swystun pointed to Dan Aykroyd’s Crystal Head vodka and Francis Ford Coppola wines as being a bit too expensive to be competitive with established brands. Crystal Head sells for $59.95 at the LCBO while Coppola’s wines are generally over the $20 mark (nearly half of all wine at the LCBO sells for less than $10.95).
“The opportunity exists for a celebrity to change this pattern and actually put out a good liquor at a competitive price,” he said, noting time will tell how Drake’s beverage fares in the crowded rye market.
Through his OVO label, Drizzy has already successfully shilled soft drinks and sneakers, even limitededition Canada Goose OVO jackets.
“He’s selling a lifestyle,” Swystun added.
Last Thursday, about1,000 customers showed up to the launch of the Trailer Park Boys’ new Liquormen’s Ol’ Dirty Canadian Whisky, with characters Bubbles and Ricky signing bottles and smiling in selfies.
Drake’s whiskey will next be introduced Saturday across British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba.