Ready-to-drink cocktail Dirty Shirley is moving into several new states and has launched two new flavors, the company announced today, setting the stage for the brand to move a budding cocktail call into the canned world.
Texas-based Dirty Shirley is an adult version of the sweet, grenadine and lemon-lime soda concoction that was originally created in 1932 for child matinee idol Shirley Temple. By adding vodka and organic cherry juice to the mix, founder Adam Kost said he’s recreating a cocktail that’s been trending at bars.
Dubbed the “new espresso martini” last year, the cocktail seems an antidote to wellness-minded lower calorie cocktails, and more a result of the spiking post-pandemic demand for indulgent, nostalgic flavors.
“The RTD category is interesting, and for the most part where people have found success is in recreating or reimagining something where there’s already consumer behavior,” he said.
Kost is following the lead of The Finnish Long Drink or Lone River Ranch Water, RTDs that have found success becoming the call brand through building their respective stories around very specific cocktails that haven’t yet hit the mainstream. But Dirty Shirley wouldn’t have happened if Kost hadn’t “failed” with another brand first, he said.
A 20-year beverage industry veteran with stints at AB Inbev’s ZX-Ventures, Heineken USA, and head of marketing for Waterloo Sparkling Water, Kost launched his own RTDs last year. First he debuted Country Luau: a low-calorie, 5% ABV and low-sugar cocktail seltzer using premium spirits for tropical twists on the classics. Inspired by the storytelling of country music and the inclusive, laid-back vibe of the luau, the brand positioned itself as purpose-driven cocktail with 2% of the brand’s annual sales donated to nonprofit organizations that support musicians.
Country Luau released its Dirty Shirley flavor in late 2022, and seemed to hit differently with consumers who were looking for something sweeter than the brand’s other lines which boast offering only two grams of sugar. Kost found that many of his female consumers were searching for a “mid-point” of sweetness and flavor, not a seltzer and not a full-blown classic cocktail. The nostalgia of the drink also resonated with consumers.
“We got a lot of consumer insights in those first few months and realized that it had to be its own thing, it can’t get held back by the positioning and the marketing associated with Country Luau,” he said.
Now positioned to reach women ages 21 to 45, or “anyone who has had a Shirley Temple,” Dirty Shirley represents the company’s biggest opportunity as Country Luau struggles to compete with similar products, said Kost. As a niche cocktail, he’s aiming to avoid the marketing spend of competing with other RTD margaritas, for example, but hopes to benefit from the original drink’s emotional pull. And there’s only one other RTD Dirty Shirley on the market, a cocktail extension of Boston-based Black Infusions cherry-flavored vodka.
“We think the level of education that it will take to get consumers through the brand is really low because of their trial and their relationship with the Shirley Temple,” he said.
Kost tapped creative agency Wonderkind— which has also worked with brands like Kin Euphorics and Barcode— to build a brand with a “modern approach but rooted in nostalgia.”
Now, Dirty Shirley is jumping from Washington, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, Illinois, Arkansas, and Colorado into Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Florida and California. To support new markets, the company will hire sales associates in key cities and continue to push on social media, particularly TikTok and Instagram, where the brand has benefitted from organic engagement and worked with influencers. The company lines up distributor partnerships based on channel strength in each market, said Kost, and for now uses a mix of AB and Molson Coors networks and a few smaller spirits distributors.
The brand expansion is backed by partnerships with Walmart, Total Wine, Specs, Safeway, and Hucks, with many more retailers to be unveiled in the first quarter of 2024, said Kost. Initial sales have been focused on the liquor channel but will now target grocery.
Two new flavors, California Cherry Vanilla and Extra Dirty, spiked from 5.9% ABV to 12% ABV, were announced today as well. Cans are sold in single-flavor four-packs for SRP of $10.99 and $13.99 for Extra Dirty. As for innovation, for now Kost is focused on building growth for the classic flavor and “then having a couple of really fun exploration items to support it.”