Behind New Amsterdam’s new look and creative campaign

In a world where most of the vodka growth has gone to cans, a bottled brand is fighting to hold its own. New Amsterdam Vodka this month unveiled the first packaging update in its 15-year history and a new ad continuing its long-running “Find Your Wins” platform that is designed to appeal to a young, multicultural audience that finds a thrill in going out and in competition. It’s a positioning that has helped New Amsterdam grow into the third-largest U.S. bottled vodka brand, impressively holding volume steady in 2024 while the category lost 3%, including dips for the No.1 brand (Tito’s Homemade, with case volume down 1.5%) and No. 2 Smirnoff (down 4.8%) according to Impact Databank figures from Shanken News Daily. New Amsterdam also redesigned its gin bottles, which use the moniker Stratusphere Gin on labeling. New Amsterdam is owned by Gallo, which also markets High Noon ready-to-drink canned cocktails. High Noon’s vodka seltzer line has become the biggest U.S. vodka brand of any kind, and was up by 13.5% last year, according to Impact Database. It’s a phenomenon that New Amsterdam has welcomed, according to Brandon Lieb, VP of Gallo’s spirits division. “They have taken over what primarily were beer drinking occasions, and through their lower ABV and versatility, allowed consumers to come into spirits a bit earlier than they normally would have,” Lieb said of ready-to-drink vodka cocktails and sodas. “We see that a positive, because once you have them consuming spirits, the next phase is them going after the bottle business.” New Amsterdam and High Noon do not collaborate on marketing, although each maintains a partnership with Barstool Sports. “They have different customers and different usage occasions,” Lieb said of High Noon. “But High Noon and other RTDs have really opened up the opportunity for spirits-based products to have a bigger say in the conversation, and that is benefitting brands like New Amsterdam.” Wildcard, New Amsterdam’s own entry in the ready-to-drink field introduced in 2022, is being phased out in the meantime. “We just see better opportunity in the bottled business,” Lieb said. Recent news: 7 summer alcohol marketing trends for 2025 New cityscape New Amsterdam’s new look includes a fresh label and logo. The art deco skyscraper on the bottle has been replaced with a sleeker cityscape in blue. Lieb said the new look would better stand out on retail shelves and barbacks. ForceMajeure handled the new design. New creative from Preacher shows young men racing from one party to another in time to watch a fight. The spot reinforces New Amsterdam’s longstanding equity in friendly competition—a notion that resonates deeply with the brand’s 21-to-35-year-old male target audience, Lieb said. Previous “Find Your Wins” spots have found drama in competitions as benign as “rock paper scissors” and fantasy football. The brand’s partnership with UFC also speaks to a thirst for rivalry. “New Amsterdam is a brand that’s all about competition,” Lieb said. “And with UFC, two people in an octagon battling it out—that’s about as extreme a form of competition you can get, so that aligns with our brand. The camaraderie and banter that goes back and forth between people when they’re competing is part of the ethos of the brand and something that we really want to bring to life.” The ad is now running on TV, digital and social channels. Lieb said his priorities for the brand include staying engaged with target consumers and how they interact with evolving media. “It’s important to us to look at opportunities and maximize the potential to have our brand resonate with consumers through a unique form—it could be anything from partnerships to different forms of media, to events—but intercepting the consumers where they are already in place, in a state that brings them joy, then inserting New Amsterdam into that conversation.” Ad Age’s Data-Driven Marketing Playbook is May 22

Behind New Amsterdam’s new look and creative campaign

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