Lulu B. lives.
Well, not really. She’s just a line drawing on a wine
label. But the mother, so to speak, of
Lulu B. actually answered my email a few weeks ago. Karen Anne Maley is a savvy marketing wiz who
works for a company called Kruger Wine and Spirits, and she’s pretty much the
brains behind the label.
This is not the same thing as being the brains inside the
bottle. As a rule, those creds go to
winemakers. But it takes a certain
pizzazz to get a winemaker’s labors into the mouths of the public, and Ms. Maley
has plenty of pizzazz to share.
When her company acquired Lulu B. wine it was marketed the
traditional way – to men. This bored Ms.
Maley. But she liked the name. So, handed
a product with such an enticing moniker, she went right to work.
“More than 65 percent of the people who buy wine priced
below $10 are women,” she said. “And
when are women usually drinking wine?
With their girlfriends.”
Maley launched a complete marketing redesign, and came up
with the curvy, friendly young woman on the label. “I usually don’t like it when wine companies
try to market to me,” she said. (Neither
do I.) “The graphics always show a
25-year-old, skinny, hipless woman who looks like she works for Ad Age in San
Francisco or New York.” (Oooh, I hate
that. Even though I don’t regularly read
Ad Age.)
The new Lulu scored crazy high on likeability tests, and the
bottles flew off the shelf. Score one
for the curvy girl! In fact, the brand
is so girlishly likeable, Kruger is launching a line of Lulu B. cocktails, a
collection of fanciful, low-cal treats like margaritas and chocolate martinis. These are not exactly my cup of tea. When it comes to cocktails, I say go big or
go home. A martini is supposed to be the
hard-core heavy-duty boozy choice of people like James Bond. Low-cal should not be an option.
However, not everyone is a Bond. James Bond.
There are lots of Mary Goodnights and Pussy Galores out there, too, who
will enjoy an occasional chocolate martini, or a nice glass of red wine. Read the label. Lulu B. “pairs well with girlfriends.” Amen.
