Drink to be famous?
Celebrity-driven alcohol beverage products - - those branded with the name of, or directly associated with a famous individual - - are gaining popularity in the U.S. and wine is emerging as the star of the show, according to The Nielsen Company.
Gaining marketing leverage from celebrities as diverse as film director Francis Ford Coppola, former NFL coach Mike Ditka, professional golfer Greg Norman and recent releases from Martha Stewart and Paul Newman, celebrity wines are on the rise. Celebrity wines are up nearly 19 percent in grocery store sales since last year and represent 0.9 percent ($41.8 million) of total wine sales. Celebrity spirits sales show the same growth rate (19 percent) in grocery stores and represent 0.3 percent ($7.5 million) of the total spirits category. In liquor stores, celebrity spirits are growing at an even faster rate, showing a nearly 21 percent increase since last year, compared to celebrity wines’ liquor store growth rate of 8 percent.
Consumers Attracted to ”Glitz” of Celebrity Wines -
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080305005634&newsLang=en
Intriguing concepts come to mind. What I want to know is how do you know which celebrities will increase sales… but also which might decrease sales? For instance, would you by Rosie O’Donnell Wine? Not sure that would appeal to me. Then again you could call it whine and then it might. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time until someone tries it.