The latest snowstorm kept me an extra night in Toronto, but it did give me the chance to pass on this interesting case study. In his presentation at a Canadian Advertising Research forum on Wednesday morning, Dhan Kashyap, strategy director at Diageo Canada Inc., explained how a new positioning had boosted sales growth for Baileys. What was interesting to me was that the repositioning encouraged consumers to reassess what the brand stood for.
Baileys is a strong, differentiated brand in Canada that has been supported over time with effective above-the-line advertising. Positioned for years as a brand to accompany intimate moments and special occasions, Baileys has never relied on promotions or price discounting. But after two years of robust sales increases, the year 2005 brought a rapid deceleration in the brand’s sales growth.
Diageo considered various strategies for boosting the brand’s sales momentum. Increasing penetration was not really an option, since, to use Diageo’s consumer loyalty terminology, over 50 percent of target consumers were already “Adorers” or “Adopters.” It was not that people did not like the brand; they simply did not drink it very often.
The obvious strategy was to try to extend usage to more frequent occasions, but people who were conditioned to think of Baileys as an indulgence for special occasions would not feel comfortable ordering Baileys in an impersonal setting like a crowded and noisy bar. The brand was boxed in by its existing positioning. Yet repositioning the brand as one being suitable for casual social occasions would put it into direct competition with many other spirits brands.
The question became, how far could the positioning of Baileys be stretched toward more public usage occasions without undermining the strong bond it had forged with consumers through its associations with special occasions?
Whatever the brand did, consumers would need to reconsider what the brand stood for. Challenging goals were set for changing brand attitudes, including decreasing the perception that Baileys was for special occasions, and improving claimed past 4 week usage. Aggressive goals were also set for the TV advertising. The agency brief called for breakthrough copy that would achieve an Awareness Index of 9 or higher in Millward Brown’s Link pretest (well above the Canadian norm). As Dhan stated later, in order to achieve significant changes in entrenched attitudes and behavior, compelling creative is a must. You need breakthrough copy and cannot settle for something that is merely average.
J. Walter Thompson Canada proved up to the challenge. Starting with 10 possible scripts, five were put into qualitative research. The two that seemed most promising were turned into animatics and tested using Link. (It is of note that while the new positioning, “Spread Playfulness,” was global, all materials for the campaign were produced and tested locally.) One of the executions, named “Beach Blanket,” featured friends sitting around a campfire at the beach, dunking flaming marshmallows in glasses of Baileys. This execution met the established criteria while portraying the brand in a relaxed social situation, albeit one in which people were sharing a memorable experience with good friends.
From the time the ad aired, sales growth picked up momentum and perceptions that Bailey’s was good to drink in a casual setting improved. The theme of the “Beach Blanket execution, as well as the tagline “Let your senses guide you” continued to be used in subsequent commercials, which continued to boost sales growth.
Baileys succeeded by steering a fine course between stretching people’s appreciation of the brand and undermining it. Had management accepted consumer feedback at face value, they would have resigned themselves to steady volume sales from a brand drunk on special occasions. Instead they successfully reframed experience of the brand as one that could be drunk on more casual occasions with friends. By doing so, they boosted sales.
I think there is a lesson here for both marketers and market researchers. Even though marketers can’t control what people think of a brand, they can and should attempt to guide consumers in the right direction – that is, toward the most profitable positioning for the brand. And for market researchers, it is yet another reminder that consumer mindsets are malleable. Our job is not just to measure how things are today, but to figure out how things might be in the future, whether as the result of marketing activity or simply changing consumer needs and beliefs.
What do you think of the Baileys ad? Does it fit with your understanding of the brand, or does it take it too far?
(9 votes, average: 4.22 out of 5)
Loading ...
Email This Post
January 29th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Bailey’s (to me) has never been about special occassions as much as memorable occasions. Consumption was therefore limited to a psychological versus geographic or situational constraint. Interesting uptake on profitable positioning; I take it you were referring to the volumetric impact of ‘owning’ or competing in different consumption scenarios, much like Coke/Pepsi/beer all try to own specific ‘moments.’ That said, I don’t think I would have selected the “campfire moment” for Baileys - but that’s purely a personal opinion
I wonder if there are any insights to be had trying to determine what differentiated need baileys served over alternative beverages (the moment, the mood, the psychology, the food, the music, the season, the temperature, the company, the setting), that might lead one toward a better understanding of the consumer consumption dynamics and the relevant triggers to push
February 2nd, 2009 at 7:13 pm
This is a great new direction for Baileys. I’m glad to see marketers taking this kind of risk, and pushing a brand into a new position.I also like the point about consumers being malleable - I think that we often forget that!
February 3rd, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Understanding how far a brand can stretch is one of the hardest tasks for market research. You are dead right that consumer response at face value always puts the brand back in its box. The trick is to understand the values and meaning of the brand and whether those can be aligned with new occasions, products etc. Takes a lot of clever interpretation and instinct.
February 3rd, 2009 at 1:16 pm
[...] aren’t indulging? Diageo Canada Inc. thought it called for “breakthrough copy” to reshape the way people think of Bailey’s: maintaining the “special occasion” feeling while introducing a more “casual [...]
February 5th, 2009 at 2:17 am
Definitely an image building exercise for the brand to increase number of consumption occasions and that is the step that the brand should take once growth rates have slowed down. Not sure if evry brand would want to do it though! E.g. A Porsche won’t want to launch a small car. That said, such a decision would depend on a number of factors: a) Is there a premium attached to my current positioning as an indulgence product and will it be diluted as a result of the repositioning? b) Whom are we targetting - is it users of competition products or do we want Bailey consumers to start drinking in a casual environment as well? c) Would the brand be a fit in the casual drinking space?
February 7th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
[...] Nigel Hollis » Blog Archive » Case study: Baileys reshapes … [...]
February 12th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Thanks for the comments everyone.
Ravi, I agree not every brand would benefit from being stretched but the example of Porsche amuses me. I cannot help but believe the Cayenne was a step too far. Good for business maybe but I think it undermines the credibility of the rest of the line-up and brings in a new type of customer which may not fit well with the existing ones.
March 13th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Dear Nigel, I was the Brand Manager for Baileys Irish Cream in Canada from 1989 to 1991. At the time I was Brand Manager advertising on Television was not permitted. I spoke to the President of Diageo recently and he advised me that sales had increased by over 220% since I was Brand Manager in Canada. Baileys has not only focused on advertising and understanding usage to increase its sales. The challenges we had at the time were seasonaility of Baileys. We were overdeveloped in the pre christmas season and underdeveloped in the summer season. So we launched a summer promotion Baileys on ice when I was the brand manager to increase summer sales. I have seen advertising on TV in Canada promoting Baileys usage in the summertime, it endorses Baileys with Ice. Another thing that Baileys has done as well is increase the number of line extensions. At the time I was brand manager we only had Baileys Original on sale. In the last several years I have seen the brand extended to include Baileys Creme Caramel, Baileys Mint Chocolate and Baileys Coffee. I am sure that these line extensions have assisted Baileys to increase its sales, in addition to increased advertising. Having worked for a number of Multinationals in marketing I want to comment that the people working on Baileys is probably the most sophisticated Brand Management system I have seen. They had a great global brand team managing Baileys out of Ireland where they helped Brand Managers in one country learn from experience what was happening to the brand in other markets. Baileys on Ice promotion came out of a discussion on how the brand is managed in Australia where they do not have winters as in Canada. Once again addressing the seasonality issue. I saw that on Baileys website they promote Baileys on ice as well. So as you can see Baileys has done more than to increase its understanding of advertising to increase sales.Regards, John Schneider, Managing Director Marque Metrix
March 13th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Hi John, thank you for the additional point of view on the reasons behind Bailey’s success. Successfully applying learning from other countries is one of the key benefits of having a global brand. It does take a great team (global and local) not to get bogged down in debate about what works in a market and what does not. Thanks for adding to our understanding! Cheers, Nigel