Smirnoff Tries to Change Its Lower-Shelf U.S. Image (Published 2000) (2024)

For some years drinkers of Smirnoff vodka have been seeing double, depending on which side of the Atlantic Ocean they are standing on.

In London, Smirnoff, which is owned by United Distillers and Vintners, a unit of Diageo, is considered top shelf, while in the United States it leans more toward bottom drawer.

''Smirnoff is not perceived as a high quality brand in the U.S.,'' said Graeme Eadie, an analyst with Deutsch Bank. ''But in the U.K. it's considered about the best vodka money can buy.''

Now Smirnoff is trying to close the gap. As a start, the 12-member global marketing team for the 185-year-old brand is moving to Stamford, Conn., from London to ''get more in touch with U.S. vodka drinkers,'' said Andy Fennell, who was appointed Smirnoff's head of global marketing recently.

The United States is the largest global market for Smirnoff and represents 40 percent of the brand's worldwide volume, which stood at 17 million cases last year.

''People in the U.S. used to think Smirnoff was a cool drink,'' Mr. Fennell lamented. ''It's not the case anymore. We have lost some ground in the U.S.''

Smirnoff is still the market-leading brand in the United States. It sold 6.1 million cases last year, or nearly double its closest rival, Absolut, which sold 3.8 million cases, according to Impact Databank.

Yet imported premium vodkas like Absolut have been gaining share, while Smirnoff's growth has slowed. In the most recent comparison, from 1998 to 1999, Absolut's United States market share grew 5.9 percent, compared with a mere 1 percent growth for Smirnoff.

Smirnoff, which began in a Moscow distillery in 1815 under the direction of Ivan Smirnoff, has a long history in the United States, and for that reason is considered a domestic brand. The company first began producing vodka in the United States in 1934, and was eventually sold for $14,000 to the Heublein Company, which predated United Distillers.