In a move targeted both at tapping into the sales growth of premium vodkas and driving member loyalty via expanded premium offerings, Wal-Mart's Sam's Club retail warehouse has launched an ultra-premium, private-label vodka, Rue 33.

This marks the club's first foray into spirits, although it already offers proprietary wine and beer brands. The brand is being carried in the 200-plus stores within the club chain that are permitted to sell alcohol, or about one-third of total stores.

The vodka is being marketed under the club's Members Mark brand, which offers premium products spanning a wide variety of categories at "exceptional value," with a guarantee that each product's quality meets or exceeds that of the leading national brand.

The vodka -- distilled in France by Louis Royer using the region's spring water -- is retailing at $28 for a 1.75-liter bottle, about the same price as premium national brands but roughly a third to half the price of comparable ultra-premium brands such as Grey Goose and Ketel One.

While club member loyalty is a prime objective -- Sam's Club's has more than 47 million U.S. members -- membership is not required to buy alcohol products in the club's stores, so moving into store-brand spirits is also a means of attracting non-member sales and consumers who are prospects for membership conversion.

The brand identity and packaging for the vodka, developed by international brand/design consultancy Dragon Rouge, was built around a "French grand cru vodka" concept, according to Marcus Hewitt, chief creative officer in the consultancy's New York office.

The packaging incorporates immediately recognizable design elements from national brands in the premium vodka category (frosted background with engraving and see-through effects) and the wine category (poplar tree images evoking wine estates).

Hewitt reports that the branding/packaging process involved creating three creative platforms, each geared to a separate, psychographics-based interpretation of premium vodka. One focused on the brand's "gourmet" appeal based on its premium ingredients and distilling process; another on exotic, adventurous appeal based on its French heritage; and the third on the "aspirational" or status appeal of the premium concept. The ultimate approach represents a combination of the gourmet and French platforms.

While the basic creative platforms process was the same one Dragon Rouge employs for national brands, an unusually short development time frame -- from mid 2008 to in-store release late in 2009 -- was possible because Markey and team use deep knowledge of the Sam's Club audience to streamline decision-making, Hewitt says.

While consumer research was obviously key, Sam's Club "can make creative decisions without the layers upon layers" of such research that "national brands tend to get a bit stuck in," he observes.

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