Kyrö Distillery hand sanitizer launch – adapting at its’ finest

Like many other businesses, the Finnish liquor company Kyrö Distillery was trembling under the financial pressure COVID-19 has caused.

Finland’s government’s decision to close all the restaurants was a big hit for Kyrö's business. The sales went down, the showroom was closed and many employees were out of work. Laying off employees seemed inevitable.

The idea that saved Kyrö from the Reaper, as the co-founder of the company Miika Lipiäinen put it, was starting to produce hand sanitizer. Initially, it all got started when Kyrö wanted to do exactly the opposite than some firms, and sell hand sanitizer for a reasonable price, even hand it out for free. Making their own hand sanitizer was a statement against the companies that are taking advantage of the situation and selling an overpriced product.

Kyrö first made a campaign landing page for the hand sanitizer, informed press to share the news and started to collect a list of people and their email addresses. Institutions critical to society like hospitals were prioritized.

Kyrö imported the list of email addresses in Custobar, the customer data platform they use, and targeted emails to people who wanted to be informed about the progress: when the production starts and when the hand sanitizer is on sale.

Strategic thinking changed the course

Hanna-Leena Huhtala, the Community Manager at Kyrö said their important message spread well in the media. A clear landing page for the campaign and using Custobar to manage the contacts and communication helped the process. “Using Custobar saved time in a situation that was full of new things to learn.”

After the company got the production going, first hand sanitizers were sent, as they promised, to functions that needed it the most. No layoffs were needed as the new product kept the production going.

What Kyrö did, had a societal impact on many levels. They offered an affordable product to keep us safe and managed to save many jobs. What’s also worth mentioning is that they spread hope. There are companies that are willing to do the right thing, and there are ways to turn the course by adapting the business.

Let’s see what the innovative company will come up in the future. We’ll sure keep an eye on them.