Ketel One Finally Hits the Bottle

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"Americans don't tend to like ads that make them say, 'What the heck was that supposed to be?'" In Europe, he notes, it could do even better because British, French, and Scandinavian consumers don't like "obvious hard selling." The irony, though, is that the ads might have a tougher time standing out in that edgier ad environment.

Is adding the bottle to Ketel One's ads likely to help demystify the brand without robbing it of its mystique? Starch's Sawyer says the new April ads scored "considerably above average" when it comes to how much magazine readers noticed the ads and elevating readers' positive disposition toward the brand. "This is a level of performance that is far beyond what we had seen from Ketel One before, when it didn't show the bottle," he says.

Sticking Its Neck Out

Nolet's Eldien says that besides the decision to take the campaign global, the company has also been looking at extending it to television. Ad concepts have been created, but none approved yet. While the Nolets have retained ownership of the brand and have final say on ad plans, Diageo will have a voice as well. "They [Diageo] had a lot of questions about ad strategy," says Eldien with a laugh. Diageo executives wouldn't comment because the deal is awaiting approval by government regulators. But one executive involved in Diageo's study of the brand said, "Let's just say we were really glad to see they were finally going to show the bottle."

Pernod Ricard spent almost $9 billion for Absolut, which sold 10.2 million cases worldwide last year. If Diageo is correct and can double Ketel One to 4 million cases annually within five years, it's an $8 billion savings. Passing on Absolut will look pretty wise from a return-on-investment basis, given the enormous profit margins on superpremium vodkas.

Why did Nolet finally decide to show the bottle in ads after five years? The answer is less interesting than the ads: a new bottle design. Ketel One's new bottle is taller with a longer neck to make it easier for bartenders to grab in an increasingly crowded bar well. The Nolets, and now Diageo, are already looking for any edge they can find over Absolut, which hasn't changed its bottle design despite hearing the same complaints for 26 years.

Kiley is a senior correspondent in BusinessWeek's Detroit bureau.