360 Vodka ...

...Connecting With Wounded Veterans:   

It's perfectly fine to buy one's self a drink because you just want to feel good.  Well, if you buy 360 Vodka's latest limited edition bottle, you will more than feel good.  You'll be doing your patriotic duty!  AND, as always, buying 360 Vodka also means you are doing right by the environment as each bottle is made with 85 percent recycled glass, 100 percent recycled paper for the labeling, and the distillery where it was made has its own water treatment plant.

But back to the patriotism part.  The limited edition, 1.75-liter package hit shelves in April, and $1 from each bottle sold is being donated to the Connected Warrior Foundation.  The Annapolis-based organization provides tablet computers and other services to injured soldiers so they can stay connected with their families, friends, and the world when in the hospital or in a rehabilitation program.  A tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization, the Connected Warrior Foundation was founded in 2012.  The group has delivered everything from Kindle devices to Nexus tablets to wounded veterans during their stays at such facilities as Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the San Antonio Military Medical Center, and Balboa Naval Hospital.  Connected Warrior serves veterans -- whether newly-injured or on the path of recovery over an extended period of time -- who have suffered physical and/or emotional invisible wounds (PTSD) that were received during the course of combat on behalf of the United States.

Larry Brookman of Active Marketing and Sales LLC represents the product in Maryland and is excited about its drinkability, apart from the very important tie-in promotion.  "It's a very clean, 80-proof vodka," he stated, during a recent interview with the Beverage Journal.  "It's six times distilled and five times filtered from American grain -- the biggest advantage of that being the smooth taste that the consumer gets with the distillation process.  It takes out the impurities. We have a retail price point of just under $20 for the 1.75-liter bottle."

The packaging for the limited edition product is quite striking, too.  Brookman commented, "We settled on a distinctive red, white, and blue package with an emphasis on stars.  The most distinctive part is the swing-top cap.  360 Vodka is all about the environment, reducing waste and being eco-friendly.  They have a program called Close the Loop whereby if the consumer mails back the swing top, it will get re-used.  They recycle everything.  They then donate $1 to Global Green USA for each swing top . . .  and they've received over 50,000 swing-tops!"

Brookman believes the product will continue to cut across all demographics, too.  "The consumers now are very educated on vodkas," he stated.  They know what they like, and they can really tell the difference between the different vodkas out there."  

He is especially heartened by the number of female drinkers that have been gravitating to 360 Vodka.  "I did a tasting last week," he recalled.  "Would you believe I had more females purchasing than men?  The women not only like their vodka, they know their vodka.  So, you better be known to them.  They also tend to respond to products more emotionally than men, so it's good we have a product like this that tugs at the heart strings a little.  And the limited edition is good for getting retailers on board, especially those who want to do more than just sell product but also make a difference.  They can tell their customers, 'Hey, not only is this a great tasting vodka, but a portion of what you're spending is going back to a great local foundation.  One dollar per bottle to Connected Warrior adds up to $6 for every case that rolls through retailers' doors."

He added, "We kicked it off on April 10 with a meeting where Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) got their sales force together.  We had a massive 50-case display showing all of our POS that highlighted the partnership with Connected Warrior.  We brought in Jim Leckinger, Director of Programs & Engagement for Connected Warrior, to tell the sales team exactly what his organization is all about.  The sales team was pumped when they left.  Since then, we've had a lot of big retailers step up to the plate.  It's in the stores now."

Leckinger says the promotion is definitely increasing Connected Warrior's visibility.  He believes it's a win-win for not only his group, but also for the retailers who stock the product and the customers who buy it.  In a separate interview with the Beverage Journal, he remarked, "By having this product and promotion in your stores, you are helping local veterans as we are a Maryland-based veteran services organization, or VSO.  You have the opportunity to see what the money you are raising can do on a day-to-day basis in helping our injured veterans recover, rehabilitate, and get them back into the world with the best physical and mental health possible."

He continued, "The way we start is when they get injured in Iraq or Afghanistan, in the hospital system, we send them an Android-based tablet computer they can hook through the WiFi.  What happens is when they get injured, things happen very quickly.  They are literally in Germany the next day and then the United States a day or two after that.  So, within 72 hours, they are completely detached and isolated from everyone they know and have come to trust so much.  By giving them these tablets, they can connect with the outside world.  The tablets also become very helpful once they get out of the hospital system.  It helps them with organizing their schedule, keeping their medical appointments, arranging their medicines, educational stuff.  There's an app for everything.  That is what we do nationwide.  We've sent out over 3,000 tablets in the last two and a half years."