Photo by Tamas Pap on Unsplash
A Doritos x Empirical Alcoholic Beverage Is the Latest Brand Collaboration
Doritos, one of many brands owned by PepsiCo, is taking a unique approach to increase its tortilla chip consumption — through a Doritos alcoholic drink. The brand is introducing a new spirit beverage inspired by the signature nacho cheese flavor of Doritos “with global flavor innovator Empirical: Empirical x Doritos® Nacho Cheese Spirit. This limited-release offers a multi-sensorial, delicious beverage experience that smells and tastes just like the real thing — bringing the iconic flavor of Doritos Nacho Cheese Chips into the spirits aisle.”
The company explained that the flavor of the spirit unveils itself initially with umami and tangy notes resembling nacho cheese. The taste then evolves to highlight the deeper, corn-centric flavors reminiscent of the chip. It concludes with a subtly salty accent.
The creation of this novel spirit is a result of Doritos’ collaboration with Danish firm Empirical, renowned for its inventive, custom spirit flavors. This limited-edition spirit will only be available online, with sales starting Wednesday in California and New York. A 750ml bottle is priced at $65. Generally, the objective of launching such products is more about sparking intrigue, initiating conversations, and enhancing brand visibility rather than significantly contributing to the company’s revenue.
“Empirical is an ‘uncategorized’ spirits company, so it allows us the freedom to experiment with really interesting flavors and not have to be stuck in a gin box or tequila box or whiskey box. And we can take something that has a unique and amazing flavor, like Doritos, and evolve it into something completely new.”
Lars Williams, Chef/Distiller & CEO of Empirical, via ABC News
According to the Doritos press release, “The partnership marks a first-of-a-kind innovation for both brands and brings fans a truly new experience. To create the flavor, the many flavor layers of Doritos Nacho Cheese are extracted through Empirical’s innovative production process, using real Doritos chips and retaining their essence through vacuum distillation. Unlike traditional distillation methods, vacuum distillation operates at lower temperatures, preserving the full spectrum of flavors derived from Doritos.”
“Doritos is all about disrupting culture and bringing our fans unexpected, bold experiences. We’re always pushing our fans to try new things, so we figure it’s time we disrupt the spirits category by offering our iconic nacho cheese flavor in a bottle.”
Tina Mahal, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Frito-Lay North America, via ABC News
Although it is not specifically categorized as a type of liquor, it’s suggested to combine this flavored spirit with tequila or mezcal when making a Bloody Mary or margarita. Consuming it neat or on the rocks is also an option.
Arguably, this type of retail collaboration is a variation of cross-promotion, with the goal being the spread of brand awareness and customer interest. However, this particular Doritos drink product is a more deeply invested combination similar to a previous team-up involving Absolute Vodka and Kahlúa coffee liqueur. Essentially, the “two spirits that are often mixed to create an espresso martini, [released] a $105 fragrance called ‘Blend No. 83,’ a nod to the year the drink was created.” According to CNN, this unique scent was inspired by a survey, which stated that 91% of drinkers said that “when they smell coffee or an espresso, they want to order an espresso martini and that a ‘majority’ of respondents consider it a holiday cocktail.”
Forbes shared that around 71% of consumers have positive feelings about collaborations and discussed three major factors that should be considered when brands collaborate:
- Emphasize authenticity and alignment: Ensure your brand partnership is authentic and aligns with your brand’s ethos, as the modern consumer values genuineness. An excellent example is the BMW and Louis Vuitton collaboration, known for their mutual luxury appeal.
- Redefine success metrics: You may have to rethink your success metrics when embarking on brand partnerships. Standard measures, like sales figures, might not apply, especially in new territories. Instead, focus on audience reach, brand awareness, or customer loyalty, while not disregarding essential ROI figures.
- Stay on top of trends: Keep yourself updated with current collaboration trends across all sectors, not just yours. Regular deep dives into both successful and failed partnerships can provide valuable insights in preparing your brand for future collaborations.
Not all collaborations are created equal, and if two brands have polar opposite core consumers, then team-ups are often more prone to fail. For example, the 2013 collaboration between Target and Neiman Marcus fell short due to their divergent customer bases: Target’s affordable, trend-driven clientele contrasted with Neiman’s high-end, edgy fashion followers. Conversely, Louis Vuitton and Supreme’s partnership thrived thanks to their mutual appeal to wealthy, fashion-forward markets, demonstrating a model example of successful collaborations in the industry.
These examples prove that “the purpose of most brand collaborations is to engage and excite fans of the brands in question by bringing something of added value to them, whether that’s a limited-edition product, something collectible or a unique offer.”
Furthermore, with Gen Z leading the consumer pack, brands are finding ingenious and unexpected ways to collaborate and keep their audiences engaged. Cheetos x Forever 21 successfully collaborated in 2019, and a GoPro-Red Bull partnership was announced in 2016. Today, we’re seeing even more out-of-the-box partnerships. Creativity and a willingness to push boundaries are essential, but strategic thinking remains crucial. The goal is to craft a sensational and unique collaboration without turning it into a branding faux pas — like the Kendall Jenner-Pepsi mishap in 2017.
Discussion Questions
In the light of unconventional brand partnerships becoming increasingly popular in the market, how does a traditionally non-alcoholic brand like Doritos effectively measure the success of its nacho cheese-inspired spirit launch, especially considering that the objective is more driven by brand visibility and conversation initiation rather than revenue generation? As higher-end brands enter partnerships with products of a different sector, what are the key factors involved in maintaining brand authenticity and alignment, especially when the collaborative product diverges significantly from the brand’s core offerings? How should brands navigate possible consumer confusion or potential dilution of brand identity in their pursuit of unique and sensational collaborations?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Neil Saunders
Managing Director, GlobalData
Mark Self
President and CEO, Vector Textiles
The first notion is…uh, what? Which is exactly what Pepsi and Empirical intended.
From a creative, authenticity and boundary-breaking perspective, this is spot on. Doritos fans are loyal, if not a bit eccentric. This is the perfect time of year to introduce a novelty conversation piece for the brand. Consider all the New Years Eve opportunities to make a splash (pun intended).
Cleary, this is a more brand building effort vs revenue gain. I applaud the brand for being bold and pushing beyond the norm (eg. Doritos flavored mac & cheese). Success has to be linked to social media buzz, impressions and even units sold – if only to stay in touch with their most loyal and curious consumers.
There are a lot of ways to look at this. Considering this brand is also consumed by minors, this effort could potentially ruffle some nacho cheese-flavored feathers. Still, taking this holiday season to do something bold and unexpected is very on-brand for Doritos. Cheers!
With its relatively high price point of $65 this is not something everyone is going to buy into, especially as the flavor combination seems somewhat wacky. However, this is not about pure commerciality; it is about creating interest and buzz around two brands, both of which are known for their playfulness and experimentation. When Arby’s launched its limited run of fry-flavored vodkas a couple of years ago, it generated a lot of attention received a lot of write-ups. Doritos will be hoping for the same and to attract social media attention. For Empirical this is great exposure and highlights its innovative approach to flavors. We live in a world where attention is hard to attract; this kind of eccentric collaboration achieves what some classic forms of marketing cannot.
Love the creativity. Launching something that is difficult at best to measure takes a lot of fortitude, and I am eager to see if Doritos deems this a success. If it is a success I look forward to driving my Doritos convertible to the Doritos subdivision I live in.
This is fun. It’s a marketing tactic more than it’s a sales-driving tactic. It will attract some attention, but if their intention is to also generate revenue from this, I wouldn’t expect much there.
Sounds gross. And expensive, but yeah, I’d try it. This is a partnership promotion at its finest.
The first thought is how this drink may be going outside of the company’s lane. It ties into the brand and its current popular offerings, but it is not the type of thing the customers/consumers would expect. This is an exaggerated example, but what if Doritos painted their log on a car and then tried to sell it. A few Doritos lovers might buy the car, but beyond that, probably not many sales. My point is that whenever you stray too far outside of what customers expect, you must be careful. I look forward to seeing if this works – and I hope it does!
Collaborations offer so many opportunities…at both ends of the spectrum. Playful delight and head-scratching confusion. Hopefully a collaboration evokes enough curiosity that you are compelled to check it out. Although I confess this is a combination I would not have had on my bingo card. I say that as a Doritos expert, capable of dusting a bag in one sitting many years ago. So this might be tempting to try at a taste testing event, but at $65 per bottle it becomes an easy pass.
The whole point of a collaborations should be to evoke enough curiosity that customers are at least moved to look, sample (try on), and hopefully buy. New, unexpected, and differentiated can be a powerful combination in creating an impulse purchase, and then maybe a long term customer. Collaborations can help create products that would never otherwise come to life within the bounds of a brands’ originating brand promise.
Hats off to this attention grab and the spark in brand interest for both companies. The key upside in all this is once the initial taste buzz is over, do they have a plan for customers’ next steps. Ideal approach is an activation strategy to introduce their product lines from there and gain marketshare.
Personally, I think I ate too many Doritos back in middle school. My own fault. So I don’t see jumping in on this fun temptation.
It’s a Super Bowl party in a bottle. This limited-time offer will spark curiosity and social media buzz this holiday season among consumers above legal drinking age.
To measure the success of this innovative campaign, Doritos and Empirical may turn to product discovery metrics like unique reach and brand awareness, and increased sales of Dorito chips during and after this promotion.