Marketing research – is the key to a brand’s success in the market! Conducting marketing research gives a chance for a brand to keep up with the times, to know the market trends and to track changes in consumer behavior.
KOLORO branding agency constantly conducts market research, monitors the quality and concepts of brands on the market, the competitive situation, price changes, the emergence of new brands and much more.
The last marketing research of KOLORO in September 2012 was a study of consumers of the middle price segment of vodka in Ukraine. Its goal was to study the preferences of the target audience and create a portrait of the consumer of the middle price segment of vodka in Ukraine.
For this purpose, a survey of consumers was conducted at the points of sale of the product – self-service stores, in specialized liquor stores and in regular grocery stores.
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Results of the study
The majority of respondents – 68% use vodka. 32% of respondents do not use vodka, because they lead a healthy lifestyle and consider vodka a harmful product – 70% of them are women, aged from 21 to 45 years. About 10% prefer to refuse vodka for health reasons. The majority of respondents (50%) who do not drink vodka prefer other drinks: women – wine, men – whiskey.
Reason for use
- When visiting, or hosting guests, in the company of friends – 33.4%
- A solemn event (birthday, wedding, etc.) – 23.8%
- Not looking for an excuse (or all of the above) – 19%
- As a way to relax and nature (picnic, countryside) – 9.5% each
- For therapeutic purposes – 4.8%
Women mainly use vodka on the occasion of a solemn occasion, on a visit, in nature; for medicinal purposes vodka is consumed by men aged 46-60 years.
Frequency of use
- Several times a month -42.9%. Moreover, more often – unmarried men.
- One or more times a week – 33.3% – mostly young adults and college students between the ages of 21-30.
- 1 every six months – 23.8% – mostly women and men over 60 years old.
Purchase price of products
- At the price of 18-25 UAH (for 0.5 liters) 14.3% of respondents buy vodka.
- At the price of 36-75 UAH (for 0.5 l) – 28.6%
- Vodka in the middle price segment (26-35 UAH per 0.5 liters) is purchased by 57.1% of respondents.
Preferred volume of products to be purchased
- By volume, the most purchased vodka is vodka in the volume of 0.5 liters – 57.2% of respondents.
- The second place is in the volume of 1 liter – 23.8%.
- In third – 0.7 liters – 19% of respondents.
Places to buy
- 71.5% of respondents purchase vodka in supermarkets
- 9.5% – in specialized liquor stores
- 4.75% – in regular food stores and kiosks
- 9.5% of respondents purchase vodka in all the above-mentioned outlets, without any special preferences.
Manufacturer
The survey showed that the majority – 62% of respondents favor – domestic producers, and 38% – imported ones.
Attitude towards flavorings
Only 23.8% of respondents have a positive attitude to vodka with various additives (40% of them are women). Cranberry and hot pepper were noted as favorite tastes among them.
42.9% of respondents – treat flavoring additives negatively and 33.3% – indifferently, as they do not buy such vodka.
Product selection criteria
- 1st place – flavor and quality of vodka;
- 2nd place – price;
- 3rd place – brand awareness;
- 4th place is “consumption experience”;
- 5th place – advice of acquaintances, advice of a sales consultant;
- The 6th place is the reason for use.
Brand preferences
Consumers’ preferences for vodka brands in the middle price segment were distributed as follows:
1st place – TM Morosha;
2nd place – TM Prime;
3rd place – TM Khortytsa;
4th place – Medoff TM;
5th place – TM Khlebnyi Dar;
6th place – TM Celsius;
7th place – TM Cossack Rada;
8th place – TM Nasha Marka;
9th place – TM Blagoff;
10th place – TM Stoletov;
11th place – TM True;
12th place – TM Soyuz Viktan;
13th place – TM Khutorok;
14th place – TM Ukrainka;
15th place – TM First Guild;
16th place – TM Baika.
As unknown trademarks the majority of respondents noted: TM Baika (31%), TM Ukrainka (28.6%), TM Pervaya Guild (23.8%) and TM Khutorok (21.4%).
Summary
Place of vodka consumption: the main part of the Ukrainian population uses vodka, mainly in guests, in the company of friends or on the occasion of a solemn event. And they use it quite often – several times a month, young people and students even more often – at least once a week. In terms of price, the Ukrainian consumer prefers vodka in the middle price segment – 26-35 UAH for 0.5 liters. And the most frequently purchased vodka is in the volume of 0.5 liters.
The Ukrainian consumer prefers domestic producers and prefers original, pure vodka without added flavors (cranberry, honey, herbs, nuts, pepper, etc.).
The consumer is primarily guided by such criteria for choosing vodka as taste and quality of vodka, and then price and brand awareness.
The most popular vodka brands in the mid-price segment of Ukraine, according to the survey results, were (in descending order): TM Morosha, TM Prime, TM Khortytsa, TM Medoff, TM Khlebnyi Dar and TM Celsius. “Unknown” for the majority of Ukrainian consumers vodka TMs were: TM Baika, TM Ukrainka, TM Pervaya Guild and TM Khutorok.
Consumer portrait (main target segment)
The main target audience for vodka producers in the middle price segment of Ukraine are men aged 21 to 45 years old, student youth, working youth and men of mature generation. Basically, these are free people, not bound by the ties of marriage, with the level of income per 1 family member from 2000 UAH and more.
Why did Morosha TM win?
According to consumer preferences, a new brand on the vodka market – TM “Morosha” took the first place. What distinguishes this novelty from the old, already known and tested by consumers vodka brands?
The whole point is that the demanding Ukrainian consumer is hungry for novelties, and producers in the vodka market, which shows negative dynamics, are ready to do anything to surprise the consumer. That is why several novelties have recently appeared on the vodka market under the “ekovodka” label, and the “Morosha” trademark is one of them. According to the alcoholic holding Global Spirits(TM “Khortytsa”), which released a new brand “Morosha”, mineral waters from mountain springs of the Carpathians are used for production.
Another successful example of “eco-vodka” is Distinct vodka from Nemiroff brand. Distinct vodka has been certified according to international ISO standards (it is marked with the “green crane” sign). The drink is based on artesian water, which has undergone natural purification and 10 degrees of filtration (including minerals from the Precambrian period).
Thanks to its eco-brands, Nemirof increased its market share in the premium vodka segment from 40% to 60%, and TM “Morosha” became the sales leader.
Thus, both the theme of “environmental friendliness” and any innovative products are perceived by the Ukrainian consumer “on a hurrah”, new brands with new properties have all chances to win consumer loyalty and a large market share in a short time.
