Best of Scotch Blog - Attracting New Drinkers

Earlier this week I wrote about attracting women to whisky - even if it is via whisky liqueur. Here's an older story that discusses the need to attract new drinkers.
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Originally Posted - July 12, 2005

Attracting new Scotch drinkers

Attracting new drinkers. That seems to be the new imperative for many distillers.

• Bruichladdich introduces "Rocks" a single malt actually designed to be served over ice. HERESY!
• Glenlivet sponsors a  loosely veiled ad in the form of a "debate" to discuss the merits of using single malts in cocktails.
• Whisky Magazine sponsors their second annual competition at Whisky Live London for the best whisky-based cocktail.

Just what the hell is going on here?

Well, obviously distillers are seeing the potential for cultivating a new market among the hip young bar crowd. You know them - the 20- to 30-somethings who frequent the latest trendy bar/club. They've been weened from micro-brews and moved on to martinis.

But let's face it, they aren't drinking your father's martini - they scarfing down sickeningly sweet mixed drinks made with gin, vodka, rum, tequila or another liquor of the month, served into a martini glass.

This crowd asks for Grey Goose, but couldn't tell it from Popov. This crowd wants to drink as much as possible, but doesn't really want to taste the alcohol.

Distillers figure (rightly so) that whisky is the next frontier. The next great untapped drink ingredient. And the distillers and distributors, most of them anyway, would really like to get a piece of that "potential market demographic" (that's my marketing jargon :)).

Are you surprised? Don't be.

Yes, most distillers are in the whisky biz for the love of making the stuff. But most distillers are owned by large companies, who are in turn owned by shareholders. And it may surprise you to know that there are many shareholders who own a piece of Fortune, Pernod, Diageo and others, who could care less about the tradition and history of whisky making. They want to see a return on their investment. Even little independent privately-held Bruichladdich, is looking to make some money.

And I don't think there's anything wrong with making money. A profitable market helps all of our favorite distillers to keep on keepin' on. And that's a good thing long-term.

The issue that many of the old-guard have with these short-term marketing tactics is that they could  dilute the mystique of single malt. That may very well be true. But I'm not so worried about the mystique as I am for the industry and some of the companies.

Since the path for getting a whisky from the still to the bottle is a long term affair, the companies who are implementing the short-term marketing tactics could be damaging their own future in the end.

How? Well obviously a smaller company like Bruichladdich has less whisky in the pipeline, and any increase in output today won't hit the bottom-line for a number of years. So, I'll pick on "the laddie" (but it's only 'cuz I love you guys) and make a few broad predictions:

1. Bruichladdich ramps up production today, and by the time the stuff is really ready, 10 years, the trendy market has LONG moved on the the next big thing. Bruichladdich has a surplus of product that they sell-off cheap, or it becomes the main ingredient in a nice blend.

2. Bruichladdich continues their trend in non-age-labeled product (by releasing the product long before the standard 10 years aging) in order to get some short-term profits. This results in a general degradation of reputation of the product. This leads to a complete abandonment by a notoriously snobby old-guard. If and when the whisky trend goes the way of the wine-cooler trend, Bruichladdich sees some very hard times.

3.Bruichladdich has played the market absolutely correctly and becomes the Grey Goose of single malts.

How it really works out is anyone's guess. I think the big guys (Glenlivet, Glenfiddich) have little to lose. Many people look down on these two for be too populist, anyway. They'll always have a market.

Bruichladdich has little to lose as well, they are already considered to be a young upstart, but as far as I am concerned they are doing some really neat things.

The middle market will likely sit back and wait to see how it turns out.

Me? I'll continue to take my single malt neat, with a little water on the side (I've never liked mixed drinks anyway).

Attracting new drinkers. That seems to be the new imperative for many distillers.

• Bruichladdich introduces "Rocks" a single malt actually designed to be served over ice. HERESY!
• Glenlivet sponsors a  loosely veiled ad in the form of a "debate" to discuss the merits of using single malts in cocktails.
• Whisky Magazine sponsors their second annual competition at Whisky Live London for the best whisky-based cocktail.

Just what the hell is going on here?

Well, obviously distillers are seeing the potential for cultivating a new market among the hip young bar crowd. You know them - the 20- to 30-somethings who frequent the latest trendy bar/club. They've been weened from micro-brews and moved on to martinis.

But let's face it, they aren't drinking your father's martini - they scarfing down sickeningly sweet mixed drinks made with gin, vodka, rum, tequila or another liquor of the month, served into a martini glass.

This crowd asks for Grey Goose, but couldn't tell it from Popov. This crowd wants to drink as much as possible, but doesn't really want to taste the alcohol.

Distillers figure (rightly so) that whisky is the next frontier. The next great untapped drink ingredient. And the distillers and distributors, most of them anyway, would really like to get a piece of that "potential market demographic" (that's my marketing jargon :)).

Are you surprised? Don't be.

Yes, most distillers are in the whisky biz for the love of making the stuff. But most distillers are owned by large companies, who are in turn owned by shareholders. And it may surprise you to know that there are many shareholders who own a piece of Fortune, Pernod, Diageo and others, who could care less about the tradition and history of whisky making. They want to see a return on their investment. Even little independent privately-held Bruichladdich, is looking to make some money.

And I don't think there's anything wrong with making money. A profitable market helps all of our favorite distillers to keep on keepin' on. And that's a good thing long-term.

The issue that many of the old-guard have with these short-term marketing tactics is that they could  dilute the mystique of single malt. That may very well be true. But I'm not so worried about the mystique as I am for the industry and some of the companies.

Since the path for getting a whisky from the still to the bottle is a long term affair, the companies who are implementing the short-term marketing tactics could be damaging their own future in the end.

How? Well obviously a smaller company like Bruichladdich has less whisky in the pipeline, and any increase in output today won't hit the bottom-line for a number of years. So, I'll pick on "the laddie" (but it's only 'cuz I love you guys) and make a few broad predictions:

1. Bruichladdich ramps up production today, and by the time the stuff is really ready, 10 years, the trendy market has LONG moved on the the next big thing. Bruichladdich has a surplus of product that they sell-off cheap, or it becomes the main ingredient in a nice blend.

2. Bruichladdich continues their trend in non-age-labeled product (by releasing the product long before the standard 10 years aging) in order to get some short-term profits. This results in a general degradation of reputation of the product. This leads to a complete abandonment by a notoriously snobby old-guard. If and when the whisky trend goes the way of the wine-cooler trend, Bruichladdich sees some very hard times.

3.Bruichladdich has played the market absolutely correctly and becomes the Grey Goose of single malts.

How it really works out is anyone's guess. I think the big guys (Glenlivet, Glenfiddich) have little to lose. Many people look down on these two for be too populist, anyway. They'll always have a market.

Bruichladdich has little to lose as well, they are already considered to be a young upstart, but as far as I am concerned they are doing some really neat things.

The middle market will likely sit back and wait to see how it turns out.

Me? I'll continue to take my single malt neat, with a little water on the side (I've never liked mixed drinks anyway).

Comments

[Brian Miller]

Personally I feel that the scotch companies are choosing to market to the younger generation in the wrong way (since I am in the 20-30 something generation I get my own perspective on what they are doing). I think they are too stuck on the fact the 20-30 year olds drink sweet cocktails and then they assume that is what they want out of their whisky. They put out whisky liquors, vatted malts, and other “new” products that take all of Scotland and put it into a few simple molds for us to choose from. Don’t get me wrong I am a big fan of some of these products and I think they are great whiskys but my issue arises that I feel that the whisky companies feel that these types of whisky we can handle. I feel that the companies forget that the 20-30 year olds will age into what I feel they think of as “real single malt drinkers”. I am sure they feel this because they look at their sales figures and see that my age group doesn’t buy much single malt and the reason is because it’s too expensive. Magazines like Malt Advocate even say that it’s become almost impossible to find a 12 year old whisky for less then $30US. I think that if the major companies lower their prices of their base expressions and maybe even start selling younger whiskys in the US, then we will be able to purchase more, explore more, learn more, and then as we age and gain more disposable income we will be able to purchase more whisky and in turn more exclusive and expensive whisky. By just selling us these “new” products I feel they are looking for the quick profit and isolating us this into small niche market. If they priced their entry level single malts in a level we can afford they would be able to create brand loyalty and then they can make their large profits off of us in a few years. Well that’s my 2 cents on marketing whisky to new drinkers.

[Al]

I guess I look at things from more of a marketing perspective, since it's kinda what I do for a living. I'm sure that these companies or their agencies have funded enough research to to kill a forest full of trees. I have been part of several product launches/rebranding campaigns - step one (of succesfull launches) is always understand the competitive landscape and your target market. Depending on what you are launching/branding or rebranding, let the market determine what the target. Fish where they are biting versus just dropping a pole in the water where you want and hope for the best.
Spirits is one of the segements where you have to nail the early adopters - those people who have influence over the others.
You want the one person in ten who tells influences the other nine on how to vote, what to drive, what music to listen to and what to drink.
I think that people forget that there is a logical order to making things a habit.
awareness, acceptance, test, consumption all happen before any sort of loyalty is produced.
If you are not advertising the product none of this can begin.
Magazine ads are great but more subtle advertising devises might be influential on a individual level - Newspapers and Magazines will deliver the greatest audience, but somtimes lack the person-to-person influence factor.
Product placement marketing in movies and TV are a great example - Imagine the impact of Steve McQueen or James Dean (yah, I know they are dead, but name some current acters whith their cool factor - Clooney maybe, Nicholson definatley, Harrison Ford maybe) pouring a nice single malt in a scene - with the label out.
Direct Mail/email. we all hate junk mail, but it still works.
Invitation only events/exclusive samnpling opportunities - especially if it's paired with a like event (golf tourney is ideal).
Chicks & scotch - Angelina Jolie - yes, Charlise Theron - yes, Uma Therman - yes