Finding a niche
Talk about different shapes and sizes – the liqueur sub-category really is a many-headed beast! Produced in a variety of flavours, from chocolate to berry, this high-alcohol, often high-sugar type drink has traditionally defied straightforward categorisation, and sometimes even basic comprehension.
As a result, boldly going forward with generic talk of ‘liqueurs’ as a single seething mass of products has never really been an option – something that probably has not helped its profile over the long-term in the highly competitive world of travel retail. While a handful of liqueur products – most prominently Baileys – do enjoy stalwart status, a number of others have been subject to fluctuations over the past decade. With the emergence, in particular, of a more robust and diverse malt whisky market, competition on liquor shelves has never been more intense, so it seemed an opportune moment to garner opinion from a number of leading liqueur suppliers about the challenges they face in getting their product on-shelf and under the noses of potential customers in 2007.
It is certainly an issue that has been preoccupying Drambuie international marketing manager Miranda Rennie of late. Back in the ‘70s, the herb- and honey-flavoured scotch whisky liqueur was a global giant capable of shifting 450,000 9L cases in the US alone. The subsequent decline in sales has been fairly gentle but undeniable, hence the initiation two years ago by new CEO Phil Parnell of a strategy to “build and rejuvenate the brand”.
Getting to grips with this in both domestic and travel retail has required the acknowledgement of some uneasy realities. “The challenge for any liqueur is the fact that the category is so disparate, and for a consumer can be quite fazing,” says Rennie. “Consumers can go and look at gins and vodkas and whiskies, for example, and easily see the differences that help them stand out. That is always going to be difficult in liqueur where there are many different products – from creams to coffees to oranges.”
The result of the Drambuie team’s deliberations has been the decision to pitch firmly at the premium end of the market, focusing – in addition to the drink’s existing, older customer base – on 25- to 35-year-old men who are “interested in heritage and uniqueness”. There is also an emphasis on the best way to consume Drambuie – namely “long with soda, lots of ice and wedges of lime” – although the drink’s suitability for mixing is also being promoted.
It is still fairly early days, but the combination of a more concisely-promoted product, and effective sampling and educational campaigns appears to be wowing travel retailers all over again, especially in Australia and New Zealand. The brand is soon to be sampled on a Nordic ferry line as efforts continue to ensure customers “understand what the brand is and stands for”.
Sample this!
First marketed in late 1989, Distell’s Amarula does not exactly have the multi-century heritage of Drambuie to call on. However, in less than 20 years, the South African cream liqueur has established a strong profile in both domestic and travel retail markets, with the latter becoming a real driver of growth in recent years.
Amarula global development manager Siobhan Thompson acknowledges that this has been achieved within the context of an evermore competitive liquor market. “The travel retail channel has definitely experienced increasingly crowded liquor shelves,” she says. “However, due to Amarula’s unique taste, positioning and brand story, the product performs well where it is listed.”
Not dissimilarly to Drambuie, presence in the channel continues to be defined by product sampling, both “at the point of purchase and when tendering for listings. After all, the majority of travel retail buyers are consumers of alcoholic beverage products themselves, and once Amarula is tasted it stands out as the superior cream liqueur from Africa.”
The approach goes hand-in-hand with some eye-catching installations, most recently in evidence at OR Thambo International Airport and Heathrow’s Terminal 3. Collectively, observes Thompson, it is an approach that seems to be convincing both retailers and consumers.
Shelf appeal
Immediate and lasting impact on-shelf – that, in short, has been the overriding priority for Wild Africa Cream these past few years. As a small independent, Wild Africa knew from the beginning, says marketing director Russel Gillwald, that it would “have to design our brand with good shelf appeal because we would not be able to compete with the big multi-brand operations in terms of negotiating prime display space or even favourable shelf positions. We knew that we would have to draw the customer to our brand through innovative packaging even if it was standing on the bottom shelf.”
The brand’s restricted availability in domestic retail has also proven to be a real calling card in travel retail. “This is evidenced by the many emails we get from customers who have bought a bottle in duty free and are trying to find out how they can make a repeat purchase in their local market,” notes Gillwald.
While duty free accounted for nearly 20% of Wild Africa sales in the 2006 fiscal year – thanks in no small part, says Gillwald, to the efforts of retailer Gebr Heinemann – that figure is likely to be reduced this year as the brand begins to establish a greater presence in local markets including the UK, Brazil, Germany, Portugal, Chile and Argentina.TR, however, will remain a key priority. “We suggest to the retailers that our brand offers a fresh look at the category, and that it could encourage a purchase in the category where one wouldn’t have been made at all,” surmises Gillwald of Wild Africa’s so-far winning strategy. “Many customers buy our liqueur on impulse and only discover that it is a quality product once they get it home and try it.”
Indeed, the satisfaction that customers clearly do derive from liqueur products when they decide to purchase is a commonly expressed sentiment across this particularly complex area of the liquor category. The quality and diversity of the offers residing therein seems to be beyond doubt, and it is to be hoped that even more retailers give them the support they deserve in the years ahead. n
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