However, Diageo GTME marketing manager Chin Ru Foo says recent flavour launches have been a “great success” in travel retail.
“Our two most recently launched flavours, Biscotti and Hazelnut, have been a great success and have complemented our established favourites, Caramel and Coffee. The most significant activation of 2012 so far has been the retail launch of Baileys Biscotti Flavour. This launch married the Irish roots of Baileys with the highly popular Italian coffee culture.
“In travel retail, this was supported by a campaign which encouraged consumers to Dip Into the New Baileys Biscotti. This was activated in key locations from Heathrow to Sydney airport. It was also activated in smaller locations with pop-up bars and creatively merchandised spaces.”
Distell’s Amarula also cited travel retail as an area for growth. The 2012 Millionaires rankings put Amarula’s case shipments at 1.3m in 2011 – up from 1.2m in 2010. Senior global marketing spokesperson Siobhan Thompson says growth has accelerated with buoyant sales in Africa, Europe, the Americas and the duty free channel.
She adds: “Even in South Africa, our longest-standing and most established market, the brand is delivering excellent growth. This is despite the state of the economy and the advent of several me-too options available to consumers. Germany, another of our more mature markets, also continues to reflect very sound growth off a strong base.”
Established markets aside, cream liqueurs aren’t that different from other spirits categories, with emerging markets representing a huge amount of excitement for the creamy sector.
Amarula’s Thompson says: We are seeing very promising results from developing markets such as Nigeria and Angola as well as Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.”
Diageo’s Foo says emerging markets are important to Baileys. He adds: “The brand is performing well in these, both in domestic and travel retail.”
Austrian liqueur brand Mozart, which has cream brands including Mozart White Chocolate Cream and Gold Chocolate Cream, sees growth potential in emerging markets as well as a few old favourites.
Anna Kruggel, Mozart brand manager, says: “We see huge growth potential in Russia, the US, Japan and China as our partners in those countries directly name a big demand for our chocolate spirits.
“Of course, the shipments to countries which have to fight against the financial crisis at the moment, such as Greece and Spain, have decreased, But this is to be seen in relation to their economy. We also have to consider the season of the year – summer [in the Northern Hemisphere] is a time when people ask for fresh, fruity drinks.”
Moving forward
Fruity cream liqueurs could be the answer to less seasonally-focused purchasing patterns, perhaps. Diageo’s Qream with a Q, which launched in 2011, also made the most of celebrity influence. The company teamed up with music star Pharrell Williams to launch a strawberry and a peach variant.
Diageo’s McDonald says: “Qream with a Q launched in the summer of 2011 in alliance with Pharrell Williams with events across the US, tapping into William’s creativity as well as leveraging his rank at the forefront of music, art, style and culture. It is still in early states of launch with our primary goal of doing tastings around the brand to build awareness.”
