This spring and summer, Diageo Great Britain (GB) is extending its category-wide campaign to highlight spirit and mixer serves during the summer months in the Great Britain (GB) off-trade.
Entitled 'Refreshing Tastes for Long Summer Days', the 2008 campaign is backed by a £1.4m investment that includes a high-profile sponsorship, recipe guides given away on bottles of core summer spirits, and in store POS and sampling to help retailers drive growth across the spirits category.
After Christmas, summer is the biggest season for spirits, with 36% of off-trade sales made between May and September. However, research has shown that many consumers lack the knowledge and tools to make great spirit-based drinks at home.
Diageo GB's 'Refreshing Tastes for Long Summer Days' campaign will see menu collarettes, which contain a guide to summer drinks, introduced across a selection of spirit brands, including Smirnoff and Gordon's.
The guide includes a selection of easy-to-make, refreshing-tasting drinks recipes to give consumers ideas on how to create their own great mixed spirit drinks at home, and will be linked to a supporting website – www.refreshingtastes.com – where, from June, consumers will be able to find additional recipes and offers.
A range of summer-themed POS materials, such as posters and wobblers, will also be available to create an eye-catching in-store summer display and additional in-store visibility. As well as featuring product shots, imagery on the POS will feature simple, finished drinks to add appeal and drive trial.
As part of the 'Refreshing Tastes for Long Summer Days' campaign, Diageo GB will also be sponsoring ITV weather's UV updates during the early evening news.
Ali Wilkes, Diageo GB Category Development Marketing Manager for Spirits comments, “Diageo is committed to the off-trade and growing the spirits category as a whole so we are very excited to be spearheading this new campaign. Consumers want refreshing tasting drinks during the summer months and this represents an opportunity for retailers to maximise their spirit and mixer sales.
“We tested the Summer Refreshment campaign in a top three UK grocer in 2007 and despite the poor weather, a 13 per cent uplift year-on-year was achieved. Shoppers want easy solutions for their summer drinks, and we believe this campaign will assist to provide this.”
Diageo GB will also be encouraging retailers to merchandise the relevant spirits and mixers together on shelf, to enable customers to obtain all the ingredients required for their drinks quickly and easily. Due to the versatility of spirits and the numerous mixer options available, this should give consumers even more mixed spirit drink ideas and make the purchasing decision easier.
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