ANALYSIS: Bacardi faces uphill entry - Beachside bars are out as Bacardi eyes Thai whisky drinkers

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