• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, March 13, 2008

Skyy Infusions, being touted as the first "all natural, true-to-fruit vodka experience" and scheduled to begin hitting stores in April, will be the biggest launch in Skyy Spirits' 16-year history, according to Infusions brand manager Kirsten Van Sickle.

Skyy, a subsidiary of Gruppo Campari, doesn't reveal marketing budgets, but Van Sickle reports that advertising will be focused in entertainment and lifestyle media.

A quarter of all spend will be in online sites and blogs such as Yahoo Entertainment, E! Online, P!nk, DailyCandy, Flavorpill and other daily e-blasts that offer digests of what's hot in various cities and markets, she says. Online advertising and a print campaign in titles such as People, OK!, Blender, Real Simple and Out will both begin in June.

To convey the "real fruit" angle and capitalize on the results of taste tests, Infusions will depart from Skyy's wordless ads featuring sexy, glamorous images by David LaChapelle. "For the first time, you will see words in our advertising," says Van Sickle.

All five flavors of Infusions (citrus, cherry, passion fruit, raspberry and grape) were submitted to the Beverage Testing Institute in Chicago for taste testing versus other fruit-flavored vodkas, and they emerged as the top pick in every category-a first, according to Skyy.

In addition to advertising, the marketing, anchored by the tagline "Go Natural," will include extensive sampling, point-of-sale materials, bartender education and a cross-country mobile marketing tour for both consumer and trade functions. The tour, which will start April 1 in San Francisco and end May 31 in Miami with 13 stops in between, will take place in an Airstream SkyDeck (patio on roof) with a bar/bartender inside for "pop-up parties," and a mobile billboard.

Skyy will also debut a redesigned bottle in conjunction with the Infusions launch. The new bottle, to be used across all of its vodka lines, will retain the famous blue color but will be taller, sleeker and "more contemporary," and labels will include "strong fruit cues," says the company. In consumer tests, the new bottle raised consumer intent-to-purchase by 20% over the old Skyy Core bottle and 100% over the old Skyy Flavors bottle.

Speaking of Flavors, Skyy Citrus, Berry and other existing varieties also get positive taste reviews versus other vodkas on consumer and B-to-B web sites. Nevertheless, Flavors will be taken off the shelves and replaced by Infusions, according to the company.

As for the secret behind Infusions' taste, Skyy says that it's "introducing a proprietary infusions process." In general liquor marketing parlance, the word "infused" doesn't necessarily mean that the vodka has touched real fruit; in fact, the government doesn't define or control the use of the word for labeling purposes, according to Camper English writing in chow.com. (Skyy Citrus is made with natural fruit flavoring, as opposed to either extracts or real fruit, English reports.)

In response to queries about the Infusions process, Van Sickle will say only that she sometimes uses a "metaphor": "Think about home-made infusions or infusions done in bars-they cut up fruit and put it in a vat of vodka and let it steep for a few days," she says.