In a market that is largely indifferent to white spirits,
Thailand's importer of Bacardi rum is facing a long and uphill battle as
it launches variants in the market.
While Thailand is the world's sixth largest market by volume for Scotch
whisky, white spirits make up less than one per cent of imported
liquors.
This makes the key marketing issue one of "communicating what the
product is all about", says Mahesh Madhavan, marketing director of
Caldbeck Macgregor Thailand, which imports Bacardi. "Even before you
really get started branding, you've got to tell people how to drink the
product. One of the things we learned in research is that people used to
try Bacardi or vodka with water. And obviously if you drink this with
water, you won't drink it a second time."
Another task is fine-tuning Bacardi's brand image to ensure it appeals
to new-entry drinkers, the core target. While the brand's Western
promotions play off its Latin roots, its sexy TVCs with dark-haired men
and women dancing in moonlit beachside bars don't hold the same catchet
in Thailand.
"For the average Thai, with Koh Samui and Phuket in his backyard, is
this feel aspirational?
"For a guy sitting in Europe, it is. But our research found it wasn't
that compelling here. It perhaps linked the brand with a geography and
gave it home, but that's all. It didn't really build a badge for the
brand, which is what I think we really need."
Finding space to position the brand won't be easy. The vibrant values of
Bacardi's brand have already been co-opted by established whisky
sellers, Madhavan points out. "Unlike the West, where whisky is seen as
fairly conservative, here the producers have placed it exactly where
white spirits are in the West. So obviously it's going to be that much
more difficult for a white spirit in a Thai market because the whisky
products are exactly where we should be."
To overcome these challenges, Madhavan will be spreading his 28 million
baht (USdollars 620,000) budget between two agencies. McCann-Erickson
will continue to represent the rum account, which was first introduced
two years ago, while Ogilvy & Mather is helping with the launch of
ready-to-drink Bacardi Breezers.
Along with TVCs and a strong below-the-line campaign, Madhavan has some
other weapons in store. One is to use Bacardi's mixability as its trump
card. Future campaigns may leverage the versatility of the
white-spirit.
That rum can be blended with a number of secondary products gives it an
advantage over whisky's less varied mixers of water, ice or soda.
"And actually we'd welcome more competition from white spirits," he
adds, laughing at the irony. "It's true! It would help to the strengthen
the product category. It can't be done by Bacardi alone."
