AU Vodka in Atlanta: Creating a Workspace That Embodies the Billion-Dollar Brand
Founded in the United Kingdom in 2015, AU Vodka has emerged in its short life as one of the most recognizable brands in the spirits industry.
When the company set out to expand into the U.S. market, it targeted Atlanta as its launchpad, with worCPlaces as its domestic headquarters.
We spoke with Daniel Price, Executive Vice President for USA & Canada, to learn more about AU Vodka’s expansion, how AU worked with CP Group to create an office space that encapsulated the company’s billion-dollar brand, and his tips for businesses striving to build an outstanding brand of their own.
Why did AU Vodka choose Atlanta for its United States headquarters?
Daniel Price: We get asked this question all the time by people wondering why we didn’t go to Los Angeles, New York, or Miami.
Over the years, we’ve built our business by being disruptive, and we needed to launch in a market where we felt we could make a little bit of noise. Our brand also sits within the rap and hip-hop community, which is prevalent here. So, Atlanta was the right place for us to start.
Why was it so important for your Atlanta office to be an immersive AU Vodka experience?
Our office is where our sales and marketing teams work, but it’s also a space where our collaborators spend time.
We’re really active on social media, and we work with a lot of influencers, from micro-influencers to macro-influencers like Jake Paul and Gucci Mane.
It’s important that, when influencers walk through the door of our Atlanta office, it feels like they could be in our offices in Swansea or Amsterdam. We want them to have the true AU Vodka brand experience when they come to our workspace.
Your team is often seen driving around Atlanta in a gold Chevy Suburban. How does that tie into AU Vodka’s brand?
AU Vodka has experienced a lot of success with gold-branded cars. We see them as a form of branded billboard that we can drive around the city. They’re eye-catching and attract a lot of attention and social media sharing.
We started with a gold Mercedes in the United Kingdom. Now, we have a fleet of multiple gold Teslas, as well as a few gold Mercedeses and Audis, as well as a Lamborghini.
For our Atlanta office, we decided on the Suburban after considering a couple of options. We use it for store and nightclub events, samplings, and activations. It can hold a lot of product and all of the merchandise we could need.
How does your branded workspace impact office culture?
We have a really successful brand over in Europe. With our Atlanta office, we needed a space that conveyed that brand. It was important to recreate what we already had in other countries.
When someone walks through the door for the first time, our office at worCPlaces gives them an understanding of what we’re all about, from the celebrities on the wall to our gold bottle presentation.
Our office is a great space. When people come through with clients—local retailers or bar owners—the clients love it, and they immediately understand the AU Vodka brand.
What was involved in the process of customizing your Atlanta office space?
When we took possession of our Flex Place at worCPlaces, it was a big white space—a blank canvas.
I first came to take a look at the office with Jackson Quinn, owner and CEO at AU Vodka. At the time, we considered painting and decorating on our own. It seemed like it would be a good team-building exercise.
Later, when I flew back to Atlanta to get the keys, I walked around the space and realized we could not do it all ourselves.
In the end, we handled a lot of the customization as a team, from building chairs and tables to hanging pictures on the walls, but most of the painting, the LED signs, and the bottle walls were completed by outside vendors.
AU Vodka has an incredibly strong brand. What advice would you share with other businesses looking to build a brand of their own?
In my view, the main thing is to be really clear about your ambitions and goals, and then make sure your marketing is completely aligned with what your consumer wants.
Don’t overcomplicate things. Find a problem and try to create a solution for it.
For AU Vodka, we’re very clear about who our consumers are, what they like to do, where they like to party, and what they like to wear.
Hopefully, we can make them a product they want to drink.
That’s the foundation of our brand.
Why did AU Vodka choose worCPlaces for its Atlanta headquarters?
The worCPlaces team was really great. They were very helpful with our search.
When we were looking for an office, we had a few main priorities: the first was proximity to the airport. We have a lot of international travelers that come to our U.S. office, and worCPlaces is located in a great location close to the highway.
We also wanted lots of parking and great amenities. At worCPlaces, we have a café where we can grab lunch, and open workspace areas where we can get coffee, have snacks, spend time outside of our office, and get to know other tenants as well.
To learn more about AU Vodka, you can visit them online, or follow them on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).
And if you are in search of a customizable, innovative workspace that can be tailored to embody your brand, consider worCPlaces. We invite you to contact us to learn more about worCPlaces, or book a tour today.
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