The Dear’s brand faces the real possibility of extinction If It does not act quickly to appeal to a newer, younger market segment. Although the existing target group remains both loyal and profitable to the company, it is aging and currently has no successor. The task at hand is the retention of its loyal base while securing a new one. The image of the brand must be preserved in the eyes of each respective group at all times; therefore, any promotional campaign must deliver a distinct message to each group and reach each respective group in a way that does not reach the other – a infusing image may alienate both groups.
In both instances the messages will convey the message that Dear’s is a premium brand. This paper starts by analyzing the current situation and then goes on to discuss the objective, strategy and target audience of Dear’s brand. It then does a detailed analysis of their MIMIC and finally gives an opinion of the plan related to the stated objectives.
Current Situation United Distillers (LID) is the owner of the Dear’s brand, and the leading international producer of both Scotch whisky and gin. The company employs 10,000 people. The United States Is the company’s mall market for the product.
While It Is profitable, it Is also the one In which legal constraints with regard to the sale, promotion and distribution of Its product are most complex. The parent company has not supported its brands with new, cutting edge advertising. And hence the brand Is now In between the maturity and declining stage of product life cycle. A 1993 Simmons Marketing Research Report revealed that the lowest infiltration of Scotch whisky was in the 18-35 age groups. It also indicated that the 18-35 age groups represented less than 28% of all Scotch drinkers but accounted for 36% of the population.
In the United States there has been an ongoing trend to consume less and less hard liquor over the past 15 years. There are several reasons for this. Social attitudes with regard to the alcohol consumption have Increasingly rolled and, as a result, It has become less and less socially desirable to consume large amounts of alcohol. The population has become more conscious of leading a healthy lifestyle.
Unfortunately lifestyle. Alcohol, particularly dark spirits, are perceived to be higher in calories than light spirits. Politics has also made the sale and distribution of alcohol difficult and ACH state sets it own laws in this arena.
Dear’s is managed by the Sheffield and Somerset (S & S) group within the United States. In the early sass DU managers started to realize that Dear’s sales and market were declining. Jamie Prussia was hired about a year ago as senior brand marketing manager for Sheffield & Somerset (S), which is a Joint venture between DU and Meet Hennessey Louis Button (LIVE), and distributor of Scotch in the U. S. She and her boss have been working very closely with their advertising agency, Leo Burnett C. (LBS.), to come up with new ideas to reposition Dear’s Scotch whisky.
One of the noticeable trend of Dear’s was that while there had been an increase in the sales (in the last 4 months), there was a slight increase in the market share. Objective The Dear’s brand faces the real possibility of extinction if it does not act quickly to Strategy Dear’s is far from the minds of the younger generation, because of its current image as “dad’s drink”. Therefore Dear’s needs to reposition scotch as a relevant and accessible drink for a new generation of drinkers. Dear’s can expand its market into the younger generation if it can change the image of scotch and, more importantly, the image of the brand.
S’s strategy is to develop Integrated Marketing Communication Plan to persuade new set of young consumers while retaining the old set of loyal mature consumers. Target Audience Dear’s has a solid reputation among its core customers; this set of customers considers the brand a premium one with a sophisticated image. Past research into life-cycle patterns of liquor consumption showed that liquor preferences frequently altered among consumers in their early twenties and thirties (21-34), and stabilized during their later years. 5-34 age groups was defined as young transitional” who were still striving for their goals, still making choices, beyond college behavior and drinking habits and willing to embrace change with that had already been achieved by the older set- independence and individuality. Therefore, it is easier to generate new consumers from the younger generation. But for the younger generation, scotch is not a popular drink. Brand Re-positioning considers the brand a premium one with a sophisticated image. Reinforcement of that message is needed with this group. Unfortunately the image is poor among its intended target set.
They cite the taste, caloric content and staid image as reasons for not purchasing the product. Any new marketing campaign must address these issues in order to achieve a breakthrough in this target segment. When defining Dear’s sphere of competition, one could safely assume that it is competing with all other hard liquors for a share of the consumer’s entertainment dollar for alcohol; therefore, the brand must not only take this into account when designing and implementing a communications messages but also when it comes under attack from any of these forms of alcoholic drink for a share of the consumer’s Penn on liquor.
The brand must understand where in fits into this constellation of beverages as well as how it penetrates more deeply into this marketplace. Integrated Marketing Communication Plan Throughout the sass, Dear’s successful marketing campaign, concentrated on the type of people who drank the product, rather than the product itself. This approach made the brand the leader in the market. In the sass, Dear’s marketing agency sought to differentiate the product by emphasizing its Scotch heritage by adding the Legends campaign. By running two different campaigns, Dear’s differentiated itself eased on both tradition and achievement.
As a result Dear’s Scotch has been conceived as a prestigious, premium blended whisky. Dear’s became a recognized brand in the U. S. And it is associated with prestige and quality. Dear’s can expand its market into the younger generation if it can change the image of scotch and, more importantly, the image of the brand. By adding youthful components into advertising, it might be possible to change the image of scotch. Traditionally, the media mix for advertising distilled spirits was mainly magazines, followed by outdoor billboards and newspapers. Ambition of these tools, will be helpful to reach the desired target group effectively, but, will be another challenge for I-ID.
The issues will be how to execute these campaigns so that the necessary support from the trade can be obtained, the proper image can be presented, and that the legal restrictions are satisfied. Issues There are several other issues and challenges to consider including the running of two different campaigns (with a limited budget), evaluating the impact of these new promotions (to understand the effectiveness of them), and the allocation of resources.
Spending more money and efforts on the current consumer group will increase the sales short term, but it will only delay the current problem. Alternatively, concentrating the marketing efforts on the younger generation will return results in the long run. However it won’t be clear if the campaign was successful or not. Dear’s is regarded as a deluxe brand based on its price and prestige. Decreasing its price will make it more accessible but will take Dear’s deluxe image away. Therefore, altering pricing wouldn’t be a good strategy.
Dear’s current and target consumer groups, generally, consume alcoholic drinks in efferent types of settings. While the current generation prefers quieter bars, the younger generation’s preference is for noisy and crowded pub/club kind of environments. Once all of the above is put in order, DU will need to overcome the “strong taste” barrier. The younger generation doesn’t find the taste of scotch very attractive. Focus group results have shown that people in their early ass were not ready to “embrace Scotch values” as their lifestyles constantly change. Young transitional”, the group between 25 and 34, are the real target of Dear’s.
As they realize their purpose in life, their choices start to clarify. One of those purposes is to be seen as mature. Dear’s has already established this mature image. The theme, “accessible and positive maturity” developed by Forbes Consulting Group, target both generations without separating them. Traditionally the brand has taken a conservative approach to its advertising, using print advertising as its desired medium of communication.
Pros: Print advertising in magazines is successful in delivering a specific message to a medium but the selection of the magazine can also reinforce the image of the product. Cons: The downside is the higher cost. To advertise in newspapers and outdoor is sees costly than in a magazine; however, there are serious drawbacks. Firstly the print quality is poor. Secondly, clutter is high – as consumers see many advertisements, their power of information retention and remembrance goes down.
Since the company embarks on acquiring a new customer segment which is substantially different from its existing one, care must be taken to prevent any overlap in exposure in diverse messages. For any retention campaign, magazine print advertising should be the mainstay given its ability to target very select audiences and to protect a brand’s image. It is essential that the print messages only be received by their intended audiences and not the other group because exposure to both messages could either confuse the positioning of the brand in the mind of the recipient or make him reject the message entirely.
The brand has recognized the need to employ innovative methods of attracting new customers. I feel that On-site sampling opportunities are an effective way of building awareness of the brand. Not only will the brand representatives be able to address any concerns of taste with the bar patrons but also be able to demonstrate the types of sixes that would work well with Dear’s. This level of face-to-face interaction can work to build trust with the target and is something that cannot be achieved through print.
When our intended target segment sees pleasant, articulate and eloquent people enjoying Dear’s, there can be a positive spin-off in the form of aspiration’s sales where the potential consumer might perceives himself be more like the brand representative. On-site promotion can influence the target to purchase Dear’s in a location where the product is readily available. There are many advantages to this. First of all, the cost per event is reasonable. Secondly, the presence of brand representatives and Dear’s posters, coasters and table tents will help exclusively focus on the potential target by working as a POS (Point of Sale).
The reaction of the subject to the product can also be gauged, reported and researched. The addition of a senior brand marketing manager is necessary if the company is to execute an acquisition campaign that will rely heavily on on-site promotion to stimulate trial and re-purchase of the brand by innovators and early adapters. Although this brand manager has considerable experience in onsite promotion in rockery stores, alcohol may prove far more challenging given the social attitudes and legal constraints that surround it.
To counter that, the company has maintained a promotional agency to manage the on-site promotions. This promotion agency is events are to be staged. Conclusion It is evident that we know too little about it. More information is required prior to embarking on an aggressive sales campaign. It is imperative to understand why the consumer chooses one type of liquor over another and one competing brand over another. For example, Tequila has been the one type of hard liquor that has enjoyed popularity over the past decade, translating into higher sales.
Extensive research to gain insights into the popularity of tequila and the steps taken to ensure that the popularity would be desirable could be incorporated into our own marketing campaign. Besides, what evaluative process (while making a purchase decision) the consumer employs when evaluating choices among hard liquors and other competing brands of scotch is pertinent. Other information like social factors which can influence a purchase decision should also be sought. The question of consumer research into the buying patterns of the acquisition segment must also be discussed.
Launching a programmer without conducting research could provide the company with additional revenues more quickly but could also refrain from opening a window of opportunity to gain a foothold in a new, potentially sustainable segment in a region of the country that accounts for the highest number of sales.
Preliminary measurement of the onsite trials is a necessity which can be best achieved by monitoring sales on Dear’s in sites chosen and neighboring bars immediately after an event is staged. In this manner the company can monitor to hat extent the trials have stimulated further purchases.
