"Smirnoff: The Amazing History of a Brand"

Came across this book review, sounds interesting: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_22/b4133077653433.htm

snippet: "...The narrative she weaves follows Smirnov from his boyhood as a serf in a farming village 170 miles from Moscow to his death in 1898 as one of Russia's richest men, with a fortune worth more than $130 million...In tracing the man's rise, the author also conveys how Russian capitalism lurched into being...Smirnov proved to be a marketing genius...In one of Moscow's poorest neighborhoods, Smirnov rounded up panhandlers and brought them to his home for food and drink. Then he paid them to fan out and "demand Smirnov vodka" at Moscow's watering holes. Soon sales were booming..."