Vojin Đorđević, CEO of Si&Si - We are ready for Japan

(Vojin Đorđević)

After five years of work on the project for launching new product - ABnormal Vodka, which is special primarily because of the packaging design, company Si&Si will start selling that spirit in February and they hope that it will become even more famous than Gorki List. The CEO of Si&Si, Vojin Đorđević, speaks in the interview for eKapija about how brands are created, if companies make mistake by cutting the budget for marketing at the time of the crisis, as well as about the company's business plans for year 2010.

The company's strongest brand is, most certainly, liquor Gorki List, which, according to the data provided by Business community Vrenje, had the share of 90.4% in its market category in 2009. Si&Si's presentation at this year's 6th Brand Fair in Belgrade was based on that brand.

- This presentation is organized with the aim of maintaining continuity in our communication with consumers, which is quite limited when it comes to Gorki List because it belongs to the category of alcohol drinks. In accordance with this year's slogan of Brand Fair - Market is Focus, I must say that we always think that way and that all our activities are the result of the market research.

There was a general drop in alcohol drinks sales in 2009. Did consumers stay faithful to your company's brands?

- All the brands that we created and carefully cherished through our relations with consumers from the moment of their creation did not register oscillations in sales last year, although it was the time of the crisis. I truly believe that, at the time of the crisis, consumers stay faithful to those products they were previously loyal to. Also, many consumers who may have chosen other brands earlier want to buy the best they can get for their money at the time of the crisis, which is the reason why the number of our buyers grew.

Global trend that the economic crisis brought along is marketing budget cutting. Did company Si&Si reduce its budget for marketing?

- No. We are, maybe, already famous for that. I have always believed that quality alone is not enough and that a fine relationship must be cherished with consumers. During the crisis, we even intensified that relationship when it comes to Gorki List because our campaign in 2009 was the strongest in the last five years. Many companies are giving up investments in their products and branding, which gives us bigger space to advance.

Regional expansion

Si&Si operates in the markets of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia. In accordance with its business strategy to focus more on the region, the company plans to enter the market of Croatia.

- We started exporting our products to Slovenia in 2009 because we wanted to open the door of European Union in that way. We also started cooperation with some buyers from Italy and Germany, but we can not say that we already conquered these markets because we only took some initial steps.

Vodka worth few million euros

Si&Si will take part in the trade fair for duty free shops in Singapore in May and organize the world premiere of ABnormal Vodka - the new product the company has been working on over the past five years.

- ABnormal Vodka is different from other drinks primarily because of the design of its packaging. It is the world's first bottle without classical neck and with special pouring system. It is a top-quality vodka whose price will be in the class of the prices of the world's top vodkas such as Smirnoff and Absolut. Our strategy is based on two target segments - one is premium vodka (ABnormal vodka), and the other is vodka of lower price and, of course, lower quality (V vodka).

How much have you invested in that project to the date?

- We invested the most in the new concept of packaging. Over 1m EUR was invested only in protection of that patent, but we also invested in moulds and other innovative solutions. Over the last five years, the investment reached the amount of few million euros. We won the awards for packaging in the USA and Cannes. Now the product is ready to be presented to the global market. I think it will be something that will mark this year in the history of Si&Si's business.

Why have you waited for so long to present ABnormal Vodka?

- Due to big investments and expectations, realization of that project took so much time because we wanted to bring it to perfection and prepare the product for Japanese market. Once ABnormal Vodka is accepted by Japan, which is the most demanding market when it comes to standards, the rest of the world will follow. And I think that we are finally ready.