Marketing in the new frontier

YEN is a young Christchurch gin distiller utilising NFTs to market its product internationally. It’s a disruptive strategy and it’s already succeeding beyond initial expectations.

By editor Glenn Baker.

In 2020 3D-artist and creative director Blue Hamel, recently returned from New York, along with gin bar co-owner and mixologist Luke Dawkins hatched the idea of producing not just a new gin brand, but also a uniquely millennial/Gen Z-oriented consumer experience based around the emerging NFT digital asset class.

Despite many people still playing catch-up on the potential of cryptocurrency, NFTs (non-fungible tokens) have already made a mark on the world.

Stored (or ‘minted’) in a crypto digital wallet, these tokens exist permanently, each with its own unique digital serial number. Think of them as a financial security consisting of digital data stored in a decentralised blockchain.

In the past two years online NFT trading platforms have exploded in popularity worldwide, hosting hundreds of thousands of assets, such as art, music, videos, games and other collectibles.

Now in 2022 the Christchurch-based pair are marketing their edgy, matt-black bottles of artisan gin through Web 3 – the latest variant of the Internet that is further unlocking the power of e-commerce.

“In Web 3, users are able to take back full control their finances, assets, data and privacy. There are also many other uses which seek to improve where Web 2 and the central bank system is failing,” explains Blue. “For YEN we built our own Web 3-centric marketing and membership/rewards program NFT strategy.”

As a start-up brand in such a highly saturated category like gin, and in the alcohol industry in general, it’s vital to have such a competitive point of difference, he says.

Blue and Luke made the decision early to partner with Gibraltar and Spain-based entrepreneur and Web 3 influencer Joy Katharina Lorck-Schierning – who is also a pioneering business strategist in the luxury, NFT, blockchain, fashion and drinks sector. They’re relying heavily on her international experience to establish the brand offshore.

YEN gin had two launches in April this year – the first time as a limited edition NFT tokenised gin bottle.

The NFT is also a membership card, explains Blue, and members receive a physical, engraved metal card, which comes numbered with its respective NFT number.

Members can also participate in NFT lotteries and access a dedicated chat group channel along with a number of additional benefits.

“By building this early adoption community a whole network of people are coming on the journey with our brand right from the early stages, says Blue. “We’re very focused on building an online community and keeping them involved.”

A new approach for gin

When it comes to production. it’s fair to say that the world’s gin industry is saturated with brands focused purely on history and tradition. But Blue and Luke have masterminded a whole new approach to gin production, and it goes beyond the all-natural botanical ingredients of juniper, pink peppercorn, orange, kawakawa, orris and angelica root, liquorice, lemongrass and coriander seed.

They see themselves as the gin market’s ‘black sheep’.

“Other gin brands talk mostly about the craft of the product, whereas YEN is more about the experience you receive when you become part of the YEN community,” says Blue.

“Releasing YEN as an NFT really made us stand out in the market and it has opened a world of doors for us.”

He says they’ve been invited to NFT events around the world including NFT Bali where YEN was the official alcohol brand for the month-long event. “In June we attended NFT NYC as a sponsor of multiple events taking place during the week.”

To date YEN has been self-funded. The second batch has already been released, and the plan is to expand into Indonesia and China this year.

Rising freight costs, as well as higher and longer lead times, have proved a challenge, but Blue and Luke aren’t letting anything get in their way – not even the ongoing pandemic.

“The pandemic actually allowed us to really craft our brand into existence,” says Blue. “It gave us time to refine the taste, thanks to Luke being in the distillery, running trials and really figuring out our game plan around how we wanted to tackle the market.”

And yes, the pandemic’s timing really worked well with the rapid rise of the digital and NFT industry, he adds.

Planning ahead

The BHAG for Blue and Luke is for YEN to become a global gin brand. Along the way, they plan to create fun experiences around the world through hospitality partners “by organising fun brand activations with our hosting partners”.

“We’re also planning to expand YEN’s product list, such as pink gin, due for release later this year, and a tequila and rum,” says Blue.

There’s plenty of creative marketing in the pipeline too, such as the innovative use of new heat-sensitive printing technologies. Gin drinkers will be able to pick up a bottle and reveal their fluorescent imprints.

In the months to come there’ll be many competitors within the global gin industry keenly following the fortunes of this Kiwi start-up with its edgy NFT marketing strategy.

But so far Blue and Luke are very pleased with how things have progressed. They’re helping to forge a new frontier.