Give me gin & tonic

[caption id="attachment_612" align="alignright" width="300" caption="A Most Unusual Gin..."][/caption]

I'm not a big spirits guy, but I love gin. My favourite, Hendrick's, is by it's own admission "Not for everybody." This little booklet that comes attached to every bottle I adore. It is of course sperfluous to the gin, but extends the brand beyond a drink. You could argue it shouldn't be about more than the contents of the bottle, but that wouldn't help explain why Coke's market cap is valued at only $60 billion in assets, but $120 billion when you take brand into account (thank you The Brand Gap).

Hendrick's also back it up with a great product site, which moves over into something a bit more experiential with The Unusual Times.

I love this because:

• I already dig gin, so I'm predisposed and biased


• It doesn't take itself seriously, therefore digs into Mr. Ries' law of candour


• It makes itself a social object, and larger than the drink


• Like the Nike's and Apples of the world, it loves something above its product, in this case the peculiar, and expresses that in the form of a drink the Wall Street Journal named "Best Gin in the world" in 2003


• The story around the drink makes it tribal and is a clear distinction between those who drink Hendrick's and those who ask for Tanqueray or Bombay Sapphire. That connectedness is crucial in this day and age.

I think it's about G&T time...happy weekend everybody.