Building the Voice of an Emerging Category

The challenge with Ritual Zero Proof wasn't just marketing a new brand; it was growing an entirely new category.

Someone’s uncle on Facebook: Non-alcoholic spirits? You mean fake alcohol?? Who wants that? **** you!
Me: Okayyyy. Guess I’ve got my work cut out.

Beyond developing the brand’s voice, I quickly learned my role wasn’t just making sure consumers, retailers, distributors (and haters on social) understood non-alc spirits – but why non-alcoholic options matter.

With this approach, we established Ritual as the #1 non-alc spirit brand, culminating in its acquisition by Diageo. Here’s how I shaped the strategy and messaging.

Communication Principle: Keep it simple
When you're introducing something new, complexity is the enemy.

While initially unfamiliar, Ritual is actually deeply simple. Because at the end of the day, we’re not just selling spirit alternatives, we’re selling the end result – classic cocktails.

So simplicity and clarity became our messaging north star.

Rather than overwhelming consumers with product education, the goal was to make Ritual irresistibly approachable.

Defining the Voice of Modern Moderation
Other non-alc brands often speak in extremes. They either attack alcohol, celebrate sobriety, or apologize for the lack of alcohol.

Through research, we uncovered an eye-opening truth: most people who drink non-alc cocktails also drink alcohol.

That insight became the foundation of Ritual's voice.

Rather than telling people how they should drink, we built a brand that celebrated choice and the inclusive nature of non-alc. Ritual never positions itself as "anti-alcohol" or "pro-sobriety." Instead, we adopted a you do you attitude.

Scaling Brand Voice with AI
A strong brand voice shouldn't depend on one person remembering every nuance.

To make Ritual's voice easier to apply consistently, I translated years of messaging principles, tone guidance, and creative standards into an AI-ready brand system.

Farewell, meetings that could’ve been an email about whether or not “this sounds like Ritual.”

Teaching a new category
When you're introducing something unfamiliar, education becomes marketing.

These resources were created to help distributors, retailers, and on- and off-premise partners understand the category, confidently sell Ritual, and ultimately grow the non-alcoholic spirits space.