By Sacha Delfosse
SouthTrade International teamed up with GQ and Vogue to host a fashion focused party on Wednesday night (June 1) to mark the consumer launch its new ultra premium vodka, Ultimat, and a trade strategy for training bartenders.
The party, held at Luxe Studios, attracted a range of celebrities and models such as Jessica Gomes, Tyson Ballou and Wes Carr, with Merivale’s Justin Hemmes also joining the festivities.
“We approached GQ and Vogue and said it would be great to do a joint party and use it as a platform to launch the brand and give it a personality and some character,” SouthTrade International senior brand manager, Tony Lau, said.
“The whole point of the event was to introduce a relatively new vodka that is stylish and fashionable and unique to the fashion world. That is the type of people we want drinking it and those were the people that pretty much turned up.”
The launch was a big success, with the bar being drunk dry before the evening was over, and bartenders such as Neilsen Braid from Porteño and Kate Bligh from The Winery showcasing a variety Ultimat vodka-based cocktails.
Although Ultimat was launched into the trade last year, SouthTrade had not done any consumer focused marketing until now, with the company planning an extensive advertising campaign kicking off this month.
Ultimat vodka, which retails at $110, is pitched as a ‘fashion drink’, Lau explained, and in the US it is strongly associated with the fashion industry.
Apart from building up a strong brand association with the fashion industry, SouthTrade’s new national training manager, Gee David, will also be working with local bartenders to help educate them on the new ultra premium vodka.
“It has been launched in the trade and that’s where it sat it hasn’t really been pushed by the trade. People are curious and ask about it, consumers don’t know about it and bartenders need to be trained and that’s where Gee will come in,” Lau said.