Russell I. (ed.) Whisky. Technology, Production and Marketing

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imize the potential of any brand. Normally, every time a brand or category is

being developed the product is being promoted in some way or another. In the

case of a Scotch whisky it may range from a barman recommending the pro-

duct to customers to a broad-reaching advertising campaign designed to build

awareness and product trial. Whatever the means of promotion chosen, the

ultimate goal of all brand builders is to maximiz e the value of their products in

the eye of consumers in order to achieve a share of the market and, ultimately,

make a profit.

Marketers use a variety of tools to promote their brands. The overall aim of

promotion is to build bonds with consumers by means of communicating

messages to them. With consumers, for relationships to be lasting and of

value they generally need to be emotional in nature. The message also

needs to convey real values and be communicated in an effective manner.

Being sure that the message is targeted at the right audience is part of ensuring

the wise use of resources and gaining a positive effect. In summary, with

promotion the key issues that need to be answered are how much to spend

and in what way.

So how can promotion be defined? Kotler’s definition is that promotion

encompasses all the tools in the marketing mix whose major role is persuasive

communication (Kotler, 1999). There is a whole raft of tools that fit this defini-

tion, but in overall terms they can be broken down into four bro ad categories:

1. Advertising

2. Personal selling

3. Public relations and publicity

4. Sales promotion and merchandising.

Each of these basic four components offers a wide panoply of alternative

means to communicate with the consumer. ‘Above and below the line’ is

another form of referring to marketing activity; the former refers to advertis-

ing, and the latter to all other activities. This section gives only ageneral over-

view of each of the elements of the promotional mix.

Promotional activity can cover a very wide range of actions, but the com-

mon denominator is that it is normally targeted in nature and is objective-led –

i.e. it is aimed at achieving set consumer goals. In other words, the purpose is

to achieve a behavioural outcome on the part of the targeted audience.

Planning activity is an important discipline that all marketers attempt to

adhere to, although ad hoc activity can, with luck, yield good results. Having

clear consumer goals is vital in order to know what aspect of consumer beha-

viour the marketer is trying to influence – for example, is it to try and encou-

rage trial, to persuade consumers to adapt the product as one of their main

brands, or simply to get the consumer to become aware of the brand? A

structured approach to advertising and promotion that has measurable targets

and is properly tracked for effective ness will help ensure that the expenditure

impacts on the consumer. But it is wise to heed the comment by Lord Lever,

the soaps and detergent ‘king’, who mused that only half the money spent on

advertising was effective, and then went on to complain that no one could tell

him which half it was?!

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Advertising

Advertising consists of paid-for messages by an identified party using a wide

array of media to reach the target audience. The purposes of advertising are

manifold, but can usually be bro ken down into two underlying objectives: to

convey awareness of the product and to establish a clear image of it in the

minds of the target audience. In other words, ad vertising plays a dual role:

informing consumers and getting the brand more ‘top of mind’, and develop-

ing an image of the product. Advertising very often plays a critical role in

establishing a brand’s equity. It can be particularly effective when a brand is

differentiated from its competitors on dimensions that are important to con-

sumers. Consistently advertising a brand’s position also serves as a barrier to

competitive entry.

The company’s approach to planning any communications will be guided

by the brand positioning statement and a definition of who is being targeted.

Developing this statement will of course depend on a discussion on consumer

insights, these being the foundation for effective advertising. What consumers

believe about a brand and the category is one important element of the con-

sumer’s beliefs; the other is how consumers use advertising information to

make brand decisions. With effective consumer insights leading to a clear

statement of the brand positioning strategy, the marketer can commence

developing communication objectives. Leading up to this phase there will

usually be some market research carried out to reveal consumer insights –

usually using focus groups, in-depth interviews and surveys. These lay the

foundations for designing creative and media strategies. The company also

has commercial goals for the brand in terms of targets for recruitment of new

users, on top of the important job of retaining the brand’s existing consumer

franchise. With a clear idea of what needs to be communicated, to whom, and

with what intensity, an agency can be given a detailed brief and can start the

process of recommending a communications strategy to fit the overall brand

objectives. At this stage, close cooperation is often needed between all the

actors involved in the nascent marketing campaign. The company marketing

team, advertising agency and research company team all need to be put to

work in a coordinated manner to plan and execute the development of the

communications campaign.

The alcoholic drinks industry spends relatively large amounts on advertis-

ing. This is not necessarily the case for Scotch whisky, wh ere absolute levels of

expenditure have not generally been high and relative amounts have not been

great when compared with expenditure on other drinks categories. With few

exceptions, drinks advertisers use the media in order to provide messages to

consumers about their brands in order to sustain and grow their share of the

market. The motive can often be defensive, particularly for brands that are in

leadership positions and where co nsumers need constant reminding of their

benefits. Advertising may also be playing a role in the drinks industry in

promoting the much talked about trend of consuming ‘less but better’.

Whatever the case, much emphasi s is placed on developing strong brands

and on creating the foundations for a product’s unique image.

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Advertising based upon accepted consumer beliefs is generally more effec-

tive than advertising requiring co nsumers to change beliefs. Most often, there-

fore, advertisers will develop messages that conform to accepted beliefs. If this

is not possible because the brand equity is out of line with the consumer ’s

beliefs, the knowledge of the beliefs can be used to develop arguments to

change the consumer’s disposition. It is also useful to understand how con-

sumers’ process the advertising messages received. It is common ly realized

that they process the information of what is said about the brand in relation to

their current repertoire of information about the advertised brand and its

competitors.

Brand linkage

The elaboration of a bran d’s benefits is obviously effective only if it is linked to

the brand name. It is clearly useful to introduce information about a bran d that

is consistent with what people already know about it. An example of this

approach was a campaign for Cutty Sark whisky, a brand recognized by

drinkers for its tall ship sailing logo. The brand was losing share at one

point, and launched a campaign: ‘don’t give up the ship’. Sub way advertise-

ments in New York said: ‘When you have had it with graffiti, don’t give up the

ship’. The slogan was memorable because it was the cry during the

Revolutionary War, and also reminded consumers of the symbol of the

brand. Sales of the brand were seen to recover at that time.

However, brand linkage is difficult to achieve. The reason is that a persua-

sive campaign has more associations with a person’s life than wi th a brand

name. The small number of associations that people generally have in relation

to brands makes them hard to remember. On the other hand, brands that are

rich with associations in people’s minds are easier to recall – for example, Coca

Cola

for soft drinks and Bacardi for spirits. It is less difficult with these well-

known brands for consumers to link the message to the brand, than for pro-

ducts that are less prominent in their daily lives. Brand linkage is even less

likely to work wh en the brand does not have a strong point of differentiation.

When several producers use the same messages, the linkag e between brand

and message is weakened further.

Creative strategies

The aim is obviously to find the message that will induce the desired action by

the consumer. There are a number of creative strategies integral to the delivery

of the message that can help consumers evaluate an advertising message. For

example, using message discrepancy between the position advocated in a

message and people’s present beliefs is one potentially strong motivational

device. **60Persuasion is usually only minimal when the communication

argues a position people cu rrently hold maybe only reinforcing people’s cur-

rent beliefs. On the other hand, a message that is very discrepant with the

consumer’s current views may just prompt disbelief. An approach somewhere

in the middle is therefore usually preferable.

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Threat appeals are another strat egy employed, although not all threats will

result in a persuasive response. Focusing too hard on dire consequences may

just bring about an emoti onal response. If this approach is to be used, it is

important to focus on helping people to recognize danger and be better able to

cope with it. More common is to use humour as the means to persuade the

consumer. An advantage is that this usually succeeds in getting the consu-

mers’ attention and generally also motivates them to process the message.

However, there are serious drawbacks, and humour is not always effective ly

used in advertising. To work to good effect, the humour should generally be

related to conveying the brand benefit and ideally be focused on the product

itself. If the focus can’t be on the product, it may be better to focus on non-

users than on the actual consumers.

Media strategies

The resources available to run any campaign are alw ays limited, and theref ore

there must be wise use of media in planning any advertising. Media strategy

starts with gaining an understanding of who the target consumer is. In order

to establish how to target the consumer, a view also needs to be taken regard-

ing the target’s media habits. In overall terms, media selection is a trade-off

between reach and frequency. Reach relates to the number of people in the

target wh o have been exposed to a message during the period of the cam-

paign; frequency is the average number of times the target see the message

during the campaign period. For a given advertising budget increasing one

means reducing the other, and this trade-off is a key decision that advertisers

must take . There is no evidence pointing to any one correct way to manag e this

trade-off. More relevant, perhaps, than the amount of times an audience sees

one message is the type of exposure.

Krugman (1977) has advocated three types or stages of exposure to adver-

tising:

1. Establishing that a brand belongs to a category

2. Focusing on the brand’s point of difference

3. Prompting a decision by the consumer.

The overall focus is not so much on the number of exposures that an adver-

tisement is given, but rather on the fact that consumers respond to mounting

exposures in different ways. In overall terms, persuasive impact increases with

every impact, but substantial repetition prompts a decline in message impact.

This is commonly referred to as campaign or message wear-out. To overcome

this phenomenon, advertisers commonly use the technique of changing the

context but maintaining the central theme. The problem with this approach is

that unless the change in context offers consumers new insights it is hard to

sustain their interest, and the message is simply not processed. Wear-out can

be forestalled by presenting new information to stimulate the audience to

process the message.

Another dimension of the media strategy is when to advertise. Continuity

throughout the year is an expensive proposition and is affordable only to the

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biggest brands. On the other hand, brands can use a concentration strategy,

focusing the campaign on periods where consumption is historically highest

for the category. The danger with this approach is that it can become self-

fulfilling in terms of concentrating brand sales even further and exacerbating

the seasonality in the brand’s sales. Hybrid approaches try and seek the mid-

dle ground. Another media strat egy is ‘flighting’, where a campaign is run in

short bursts interspersed with periods of silence. The idea with this approach

and other variations on the same theme is to get the impact of concentration

along with the sustaining value of continuity.

When dealing with the issue of tight budgets, the advertiser has the choice

between narrowing the target or reducing the media used to target the audi-

ence. Reducing the geographical scope of the campaig n and the times during

the year when there is an advertising presence are other simple means of

restricting the reach and frequency of the campaign. The normal objective is

to have a strong presence among as large a proportion of the target audience

as is affordable.

Integrated marketing communication

The principle of integrated marketing communications is not a novelty for

drinks marketers. This refers to the broad range of communication tools that

are available in the armoury of the company to spread their messages to

consumers. Apart from advertis ing, these include public relations, direct mar-

keting, event marketing and Internet marketing, and each are explored in a

little detail below. Of all these tools, while advertising is the largest in terms of

the total amount spent, it does not always play the leading role. Its role

depends on the brand objectives and the audience being targeted. Indeed,

there are some well-known and not unsuccessful brands that choose to ignore

paid-for media and concentrate on other communications means to get their

message over. In spirits the majority of brands tend to attach importance to

advertising because it allows the brand to be brought to the attention of a wide

audience, but there are many niche brands, particularly at the premium end of

the spectrum in terms of quality, that eschew mass media and concentrate on

word of mouth recommendation, perhaps supported by some public relations

and event marketing. The over-riding principle normally applied is that the

message about the brand needs to have a consistency across all channels of

communication. If an integrated campaign is properly planned and executed,

the synergy of the same message appearing in different manners can be highly

effective and lead to building intimacy with the customer.

Measuring effectiveness

The last step in the communications process is to measure the effectiveness of

the campaign. There is a range of standard measures to be considered, but all

ultimately point at the key question of whether the target audience has aware-

ness of the brand resulting from the campaign. Then, more importantly, what

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does the consumer know and believe ab out the brand and its personality? This

is usually captured by measuring the attitudes of consumer s towards the

brand, including their likes and dislikes. This is usually in the form of quanti-

tative market research, and through repeated tracking of such variables the

marketer starts building a picture of how the attitudes of consumers are evol-

ving through time. The research findings can be useful in picking up warning

signals and allowing the messages and appeal to be modified to attempt to

improve the position of the brand in the consumer’s eye.

Direct marketing

One of the key tools employed by marketers, direct marketing has many

similar attributes to advertising. It is paid for, and allows the marketer to

enter into a direct dialogue with the consumer and to transmit a message.

Direct marketing has become a very widely used medium for communication

with consumers, and one of the main reasons is that the brand owner can

generally target messages with a fair degree of accuracy. Its impact is also

often easier to measure. Indeed, the principle of much of direct marketing is

that companies identify their target audience and then seek to establish a

mailing list to match. Another group that marketers often try to target by

way of direct marketing is their existing customer base. Names of a company’s

customers can be a valuable source of continuing revenues, and customer

loyalty programmes can be conducted to keep interest in the brand high by

way of an ongoing dialogue with the consumer.

Direct marketing does have limitations. Its effectiveness has been under-

mined by the constant barrage of unsolicited materials that consumers receive

through their letterboxes and that fall out of their newspapers and magazines.

However, the growing use of the medium is testimony to the fact that response

rates in the majority of cases more than cover the direct costs of the campaigns,

thus yielding profits. In more recent times, a new dimension to direct market-

ing has emerged in the form of telemarketing. In this case consumers receive

unsolicited calls from brands offering their goods and services.

In the context of drinks, direct marketing can be a useful tool, particularly in

the form of targeted direct mail. Premium brands can derive good value from

this using this medium, sending promotional literature, perhaps augmented

by a special promotional trial offer, on the brand.

Public relations

In the view of some, this is one of the most potent means for transmitting

messages about brands. In this case the objective is to transmit the message to

the audience in an indirect manner. Once again, starting with careful consu-

mer targeting allied to achieving clarity with the message, the strategy is to

have the message relayed through other organs. A key point of difference with

advertising is that the featuring or transmission of the message is not paid for

directly. The conduit for relaying the message in gene ral tends to be the media,

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where the journalists, writers and other contributors to the media write and/

or talk about the product. Of course, a major challenge with all PR is to ensure

that the message stays intact and close to the intended line. Getting the mes-

sage through to the intended audience can be a challenge, given that the

transmission of the message is not under the company’s direct control.

Public relations is a must for most marketers of drinks. One reason is the

interest that the sector’s products attract from the media. In this context,

relationships with the writers need to be well maintained so they are kept

abreast of the developments of the company and its brands. Consumers of

drinks, and particularly connoisseurs, are avid readers of the newspaper

columns, and a brand should aim to get a good share of voice in this area

and to have the right things said. Negative PR is generally avoidable, provid-

ing the brand owner is careful to foster good relationships with the key writers

and experts in the field.

Event marketing and sponsorship

This tool can be one of those with the highest impact. The principle involved is

to relate the brand to an even t that is appropriate in terms of the audience and

message that the marketer wishes to convey. For example, to promote new-age

ready-to-drink spirits, brands may look for events that are attended by a

younger audience and that have a fun and social aspect. At the heart of a

good event and sponsorship campaign is the skill of carefully matching the

brand personality to the event. A failure to do this can lead to sending mis-

leading messages about the brand to the consumer, whereas if the association

is strong an element of synergy can be built up and such pro motions can run

effectively over long periods.

The sporting world has always been an area targeted by drinks brands.

Obviously the brands are attracted to the audiences, particularly those who

offer a good match with the consumer profile of the bran d. An example of this

is the case of the long-standing sponsorship of the Scottish Rugby Team by

Famous Grouse. In this case the relationship has been prosperous for the

brand by association. The effect transmits a clear message in terms of the

Scottish credentials of the brand, as if it had been chosen on its merits. The

message has reached audiences outside of the home country and assisted in

building the awareness and credentials of the brand more widely. The leading

Scotch bran d worldwide, Johnnie Walker, has in a similar fashion stamped its

mark on the sport of golf in a consistent manner over the years, thereby using

the sport to transmit a constant message about the prestige and quality of the

brand to a global audience.

Internet marketing

A newcomer to the suite of marketing tools, Internet marketing is still evolving

as brands experi ment to find the optimum uses afforded by the on-line med-

ium. In the most simple terms, there are opportunities to feature banner adver-

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tising on websites. Most observers doubt that Internet advertising is going to

replace the traditional forms of media; indeed, it is already apparent that this

form of advertising suffers from a low rates of ‘click through’. Once the con-

sumer has clicked though to the brand’s web page the message will normally

be transmitted, and for this to take place the brand needs to have an effective

home page and site. The medium obviously lends itself to ad vertising pro-

ducts wh ere the consumer’s need for information is relatively high. Consumer

non-durable goods are not generally in this category, and alcoholic beverages

are no exception. So while most producers have established elaborate websites

as homes for their brands on the Internet, many of these sites have low visit

rates. The Internet can also be used in a direct marketing context. By collecting

email addresses of interested consumers and entering into a dialogue with

them, companies have found they can build a relationship much more quickly

and for less cost than with conventional direct marketing.

Conclusion

Advertising is an inexact science, as is marketing is overall. Intuition plays a

large role in finding the messages that build consu mer appeal and create

brand equity over the long run. Planning tools are also there to help make

rational choices and approach decision-making in a disciplined and structured

manner. In the final analysis, the impact of advertising depends to a large

extent on whether it resonates with the consumer. Indeed, much of the impact

of advertising works through self-persuasion. Highly effective advertising wil l

tend to build a strong link betwee n the brand and the perceived benefit to the

consumer, and this is often achieved by clearly distinguishing the brand from

its competitors using a unique style of creative execution. With alcoholic bev-

erages there are limitations on the mediums for advertising, and care needs to

be exercised to respect both the legal framework and any voluntary codes of

conduct. Common sense is required to ensure that the messages are respon-

sible and do not mislead in any manner. The question of how to publicize the

message, or of the choice of media, is another important step in planning the

communications strategy for the brand. There are a myriad of ways and means

for conveyi ng the message, and this represents a vast specia lized discipline in

itself.

Market research

In today’s world, the combination of strong competition and scarce resources

means that advertising and promotion needs to be approached with a high

degree of professionalism. This has led to the em ergence of the market

research industry, where the positioning of products is exhaustively explored

to find optimum strategie s. All the elements of the promotional mix are also

put thr ough tests to ascertain whether they are likely to produce the intended

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results. This might, for example, include establishing what image an adver-

tisement for a particular brand creates in the minds of all targeted consumers.

Communications are often pre-tested in ‘rough ’ before large budgets are spent

on producing the final advertisement. The answer to these questions and

others will indicate to marketers if the message is in line with the positioning

statement, and give them the confidence to commit expenditure of scarce

financial resources. On the other hand, a poor diagnosis sends out warning

signals and allows the marketer to go back to the drawing board and amend

any aspect of the marketing mix. In all of this it is worth stressing that market

research should not be a substitute for common sens e. Sometimes the solution

is obvious and it is not necessary to incur valuable resources in terms of time

and money to conduct long pieces of research. It is particularly important to

interpret any data coming from market research studies very carefully, to

avoid falling into misinterpretation traps.

Used properly, market research can be a very powerful tool with which to

explore all aspects of the brand development process. The usefulness of

research can range from the basic diagnosis of consumer needs to mapping

out potential new product development strategies, and more specific testing of

campaign material for a well-established brand. It is usual to distinguish

between two general types of research: exploratory and evaluat ive.

Assembling the right team of experts to conduct any form of research and

interpret the results is a good starting point. Also, it is vital to give the team a

carefully prepared and thorough written brief. Without a clear understanding

of the background and the objectives of the research, money can easily be

wasted and, in extreme cases, misleading findings can emerge that give spur-

ious information leading to wrong decisions. If research indicates that consu-

mers prefer brand X over brand Y, it doesn’t always lead to the former being

more successful, because perhaps there may be other deeper factors motivat-

ing brand selection that the research has overlooked and have not been volun -

teered by the research sample. Another classical trap in market research is to

have an ill-defined target that results in sampling consumer groups who are

not representative of the actual target audience.

General conclusions

The Scotch marketer of today must at all time s remain focused upon the needs,

desires and preferences of the consumer. It also helps to be aware of the

broader alcoholic beverage market in which producers are competing, and

to recognize that Scotch whisky is just one of the many choices that the con-

sumer has to select from. With the eye firmly upon the consumer during all

stages of the marketing process, the chances of success and continuing pros-

perity are greatly increased. The customer is said to be ‘king, queen and

master’, and being on the lookout for consumer trends and meeting consu-

mers’ needs is the task of every marketer. Therein lies the route to long-term

profitability and success.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks and grateful appreciation for all their efforts are due to Jonathan

Driver from UDV, who gave me full access to his library, and to Tim

Dewey and Laurence Miklichansky-Maddocks from William Grant & Sons,

who read my script and brought many valuable insights that otherwise would

have been missing. Last but not least, acknowledgement is due to The

Worshipful Company of Distillers, a guild that is dedicated to supporting

education and the development of knowledge within the distilled spirits pro-

fession. By virtue of The Distillers links with the School of Brewing &

Distilling at Heriot-Watt University, the author was given the opportunity to

write this. These words are dedicated to tomorrow’s professionals who will

choose to make their careers within our industry, and as a reminder to them

that ‘customers are scarce, not products’ (Kotler, 1999).

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