Stoli Shortens Its Name

Source: Brand website

If you’ve been reading the news, there’s been a run on dumping Russian brands of vodka from US government-backed state stores, individual liquor store proprietors, and consumers. We’ve seen images of people literally pouring Russian-made vodka down the drain and into the streets.

Stolichnaya is getting in front of this movement and shortening its name to distance itself from Russia. It’s actually not a Russian brand, but rather a brand from Latvia created by a Russian-born business person who was exiled from Russia at the time.

But a lot of people don’t know that, particularly in the US. So the brand is shortening its name to “Stoli” to cut any reference to what people might think is a Russian connection. The founder says it’s in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

I’m betting that a lot of people were referring to the brand by “Stoli” already so maybe this is just a natural course of action to keep the brand reflective of what the founder believes in. As a way to connect with consumers who believe the same. Branding matters and we shall see if it makes a difference this time around.

What’s your experience? JIM