Northern Neck Ginger Ale
Welcome to the first in a new series. Periodically, we take a high mileage brand, product or service and sort of overhaul it. We check it up, strip it down and talk about how to rebuild it. This ain’t no Bondo job. This is getting to the core of what really works and cranking the horsepower.
Today in the Garage, we grab a can of Northern Neck Ginger Ale and head for the alignment rack.
GS: Okay, I’m no Virginia boy. Never heard of this stuff. So yesterday I grabbed for this can thinking it was, like, Mountain Dew or Canada Dry…didn’t think twice… POW! This ain’t no Mountain Dew.
TT: Northern Neck definitely has a powerful, distinctive ginger ale afterburner. Lights up the tongue and snaps your nose in gear on the first pop. Way more punch than any other GinAle. So we have a good core to deal with right there. When you pop the top, this stuff smokes your tongue like Steve McQueen in “Bullitt”.
GS: I’ll say. First off, got to shake that Mountain Dew me-too can. I mean, this stuff has KICK, yet all that pizzazz is presented in the most bland can this side of Big K Cola. A bottle of NyQuil has more pep. Says here it’s “A Virginia Tradition Since 1926.” That explains the style… It hasn’t changed since 1926, either. But it sounds old-school cool, you know? And the name, “Northern Neck.” There’s a story there. It’s a name you don’t expect for a soda pop (and I do mean POP).
TT: Amen. For the punch this stuff packs, the package should be more retro, hard-core cool or something. It looks like everything else and it’s not. But that’s just the skin. Inside, this ain’t no homogenized, over-thought, focus-grouped flavor added to an old marketing standby. You’re right. Northern Neck has a serious flavor and could be the standard by which all ginger ale is measured. But it’s kind of hiding its bubbles under a bushel. Northern Neck. Should be the place where you feel that ginger KAPOW(!) – in your Northern Neck.
GS: Like I said, not from around here, so Northern Neck might as well be in Maine. But that’s what cool, ya know? It DOES sound like an obscure anti-brand. Off the mainstream. Under the radar. The GinAle only insiders know. Their own secret gingersnap brew they share only with their closest friend. It states “A product of Coca~Cola Company” on the can, which makes me think twice, though. Like maybe there’s really no place called Northern Neck. Like it’s not really “A Virginia Tradition.” Like it’s not authentic. Ginger ale is a pretty unique drink that goes way back. Vernor’s Ginger Ale is, I believe, America’s oldest soda… And Northern Neck looks almost identical. It needs its own sense of identity. A sense of pride. And, yo, whazzup with the whole green-thing?
TT: Almost all the ginger ale cans look alike, green and red: Canada Dry, Schweppes, Seagram’s, Northern Neck. Odd. Is that a plan? An accident? Vernor’s is green (but with yellow) and Carver’s takes it in a different direction. When I see “a product of Coca-Cola” on the can, I think maybe they’re going for the “fast-look buy” (someone wanting ginger ale who does the insta-scan of the products on the shelf). Maybe they yank some sales from Canada Dry this way? Do they lose sales to store brands this way, too? Clearly, some soft drinks are region-specific (Cheerwine in the Carolinas), so maybe this is one of them. I’m sure Coke gets them better shelf space since grocery shelves are a battleground anyway. But Northern Neck is a stronger bite (like Blenheim). I wonder, since the taste is so gingerly pungent, and ginger ale is a big mixer for cocktails, could Northern Neck create a bigger splash hammering that niche in a focused effort?
GS: For better or worse, you’re spot-on with the consumer color-coding. Perhaps at first by accident, but then by design, people were trained to expect certain attributes. This is really obvious in liquid cleaning products, where blue became synonymous with “ammonia,” green with “antibacterial,” clear with “ammonia free” and anything yellow with a “citrus scent.” In sensory-overloaded retail real estate, shoppers use cues like these to hone in on desired qualities and filter out the undesirable ones (though this can be a double-edged sword). And the Big Daddy Brands (the Coca~Cola’s of the world) know this. It seems that most brands–especially newcomers–are faced with a dilemma: Conform to this unwritten consumer code and risk becoming indifferent or invisible (loss of consumer interest), or break from the code and risk alienation or avoidance (loss of consumer comfort). So brands are becoming increasingly risk averse. And “risk” is the arena of greatest gain. The untapped, undiscovered vein of newfound consumer loyalty gold! I agree that maybe it’s time for Northern Neck to break free of its traditional tethers and exploit new territories, both in consumer targets and niche markets (like the high-end bartending scene). Make it the prima Cubano “Cigar Aficionado” of ginger ale.
The ‘other’ potential of the ginger ale genre might be, too, that it seems relatively sparsely populated. There are a few big names (Canada Dry is the Coke of ginger ale) but seemingly plenty of potential to break new ground. Ginger ale drinkers are fond of their favorite brands, but perhaps more willing to take a chance on someone offering a fresh ginger “snap” on the tongue and “kick” in the pants.
TT: You may have mentioned this earlier, their website. Lost potential right there. The Northern Neck website is sadly nonexistent. Not ugly, not great – just not there. Coke is too good at branding to allow one of their products, no matter how small or regional, to languish in such a rich environment. The web can Google you to a decent position, but you have to make an effort. Their site needs to at least be as interesting as their taste. So knowing that changing packaging is a big decision for them (I suppose), making the website at least as interesting as one a high school kid could do in an hour seems like it should become a priority. And the web is a great place to begin the partnering with other products as a mixer maybe, to create extensions that may already be in people’s minds. There are certainly better things to use the web for than showing that they have regular and diet and that’s the extent of the World Wide Web presence. Seems a truly and sadly lost opportunity.
GS: They could certainly do more with their web presence, or rather lack thereof. Look at Fresca’s website.
TT: Let’s compare Fresca’s site to Northern Neck’s (www.realgingerale.com). The Northern Neck site is simple to the point of not being there. Fresca (www.fresca.com) isn’t the wildest site out there but it has a little more going on. Somebody thought it out. Both are Coca-Cola products. Both are hovering around the Coke/Pepsi core on the beverage aisle. Fresca has branded the can, the product and the site quite nicely. Fresca is showing an effort. Northern Neck needs some authenticity and alignment in its message. Clearly the brand has that core to be a real, authentic ginger ale (look at the web address). It’s just abdicating its authentic position. Connecting the dots here would help. Northern Neck is an interesting name. It’s a great taste with a cult following. It’s got what it takes, but it’s just being Orphan Branded (the subject of a future blog).
GS: I totally agree. Northern Neck is the Little Orphan Annie of Coca~Cola products (and likely not alone in this). Not forgotten or unloved, but seemingly left to “fend for itself.” Now, some might think Northern Neck’s “authentic” web address is what it is because “NorthernNeck.com” was already taken. And, unfortunately, they would be right. (On a side note, “NorthernNeck.com” does lead to an idyllic utopia of old-town Americana family values, which are core tenets expressed by NN’s brand. Furthermore, this proves that there IS actually a place called Northern Neck, Virginia, USA). Perhaps a bit of virtual value cross-pollination is possible?
Interestingly, before its tune-up, Fresca was not what many might have considered a hot-rod brand. And whether or not it ultimately blows away the competition remains to be seen, but the alignment of its marketing components suggests Coke sees greater promise (i.e. profitability). It’s interesting that Fresca has a B-list celebrity association, too… one nicely poised with its B-list market position (i.e. somewhere between Sprite and Big K). And they have some new flavor combos.
Rediscovering Northern Neck is like finding and old Charger in the barn under tarps. It needs a bit of dusting off, loving attention and skilled tuning, but it has all the tire-spinning, tongue-ripping performance potential of the best out there… There’s life in that ginger ale power plant just waiting to be tapped!
TT: Varrrooom. That’s a nice psychographic segue about the car. Maybe American car companies are un-tarping the old nostalgic cars like the Charger, Mustang and Camaro because there is a market for this nostalgic horsepower. And having just poured a shiny can of Northern Neck down my own northern neck, horsepower is an apt description for the punchy, crisp bite. It’s too good to leave on the branding shelf. So maybe we issue the Coke folks a challenge? Maybe see if they’ll put their Northern Necks on the line? Come down to the garage and let’s take her for a spin.
Big R’s Brand Garage will be happy to discuss your brand. Just send us your product or e-mail Terry Taylor or Geoff Stone.