Vodka Brand Named After Putin Outselling Medvedev Brand

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Putinka vodka piggybacked on the cult-like popularity of Vladimir Putin to become one of Russia's top-selling brands of spirits.

For a new vodka named after Mr. Putin's presidential successor, Putinka is proving to be as tough an act to follow as Mr. Putin himself.

Medvedeff vodka, named after President Dmitry Medvedev, appeared in shops here in December, next to bottles of Putinka vodka and for the same price -- 150 rubles, or roughly $4, per half liter.

But, while Putinka, which hit the market in 2003, remains Russia's second-best-selling vodka, Medvedeff has yet to find a place among the top 20.

Mr. Putin left the presidency in May, accepting the more-junior position of prime minister, yet polls show he remains more popular than Mr. Medvedev and that his aura of absolute power hasn't waned.

The brand has annual sales of more than $500 million.

To stand out, experts say, a vodka maker needs a unique brand and needs to market it heavily.

Russia's Top Vodkas
1. Green Label (9%)
2. Putinka (5%)
3. Five Lakes (3%)
4. Soyuz-Viktan Harmony of Nature (3%)
5. Parlament (3%)

A vodka factory near Moscow confirms it distills the vodka but says other details -- such as production volumes and who owns the brand -- are "a secret."

TPG Kristall, the factory's owner, also refuses to identify the brand's owner.

TPG Kristall's president declined to comment for this article but told the daily Vedomosti that his company was making a small quantity of Medvedeff for a Moscow vodka maker to test the market.

"It has no chances," says Alexander Yeremenko, managing director of branding consultant BrandLab.

He says the fact that Mr. Medvedev's authority is so tentative means drinkers won't embrace the drink in the same way as they have Putinka.

Vinexim, owner of the Putinka brand, spent tens of millions of dollars promoting and advertising it in recent years.

He fears that Mr. Medvedev, in Russian minds, is too closely associated with the unfolding economic crisis that is likely to get worse.

By contrast, branding gurus and pollsters say Mr. Putin is associated with a period of rising prosperity when oil prices were high and real incomes here improved.

Mr. Kaufman says Mr. Putin's background as a spy is a good match for a drink that is at least 40% alcohol.

Brand gurus say the Medvedeff brand is also slightly confusing because it evokes images of bears -- medvedi in Russian -- as well as the president.

A spokesman for Mr. Putin has said that Mr. Putin has "an extraordinarily negative attitude" towards attempts to use his name for commercial purposes, but in the case of Putinka has no legal means to block it.