Angostura is taking the bold step to promote Rum as a category VS the scotch brands (in particular they are attacking the market leaders JWB and Black and White/aka “two dogs”). I made the point in an earlier post that people don’t buy categories, they buy brands. But if Angostura could imbue Rum with the “cool factor” maybe they are betting that their brands would benefit.
At the end of the day, customers ask themselves, what’s in all of this for me? It is accepted among marketers that “badge value” is important in people’s choice of beer and liquor brands. So the “badge value” plus the lower cost of rum VS scotch could be just what the Angostura doctor ordered.
I’m always uncomfortable using the competition to draw attention to myself. (my brands) I find it gives the enemy a status that can enhance their position rather than detract from them. And what should JWB do? Well for sure the right strategy is for them to take the high road. Ignore the rum “mosquito” completely as not worthy of a response and get on with its game. Taking the high ground though, does not mean not keeping their ears to the ground. They have to keep their eyes on their market to make sure that they are aware of what kind of defection might be taking place. They also have to be even more focused on their customers (through their premium positioning) and the proper execution of what customers have come to expect from their brand at all touch points.
Angostura is spending oodles of money to win the share of mind game which could lead to share of market. If I were them though I would encourage people to rum but I wouldn’t stalk.
28 November, 2010, 1:37 pm
Black and White $135.99 – Royal Oak Rum $125.99 Angustura have to be crazy to challenge the whiskey drinkers.
Regular Rum $89.00
28 November, 2010, 4:26 pm
Maybe Andre that’s Rum’s problem; it’s seen as cheap and Angostura is addressing this in all elements of their marketing mix. It also gives them tons of dollars to spend on share of voice. Depending on how the Scotch boys respond, it just might work. Unless you are saying that a drinker would choose Scotch over Rum anyday especially when they are priced closely?, dr
28 November, 2010, 4:47 pm
Did you see Johnnie’s BIG double page spread in the press on Friday? Seems like a response to me…
29 November, 2010, 2:21 am
I don’t think so. That would have been planned as part of new packaging I think….dr
28 November, 2010, 6:37 pm
I tried Angostura’s Single Barrel Reserve *in spite of* their overdone advertising, not because of it. It’s sad they’re spoiling the image of a very pleasing rum with this fish market jammette type overkill.
Also disagree about buying brands, not categories. I have a healthy disrespect for Angostura as a company, but I still enjoy rum. Check out ‘Simply Better’, strongly supports the argument of buying categories not brands.
Cheers!
29 November, 2010, 2:36 am
Marc, unlike you, there is a large group who feel they are settling for when they drink rum. This is the group that Angostura want to attract. Not rum drinkers. They have most of them already. Who they want are the floaters (the people who flirt between the two main spirits) and the scotch drinkers. They want to convert some of the latter.
If they can infuse the “cool factor” into rum, they might win over some floaters and some scotchies. But I agree with you; I don’t think overkill is cool. Nor do I think that cliched images of sexy females will win friends and influence people. So if I’m right, the are over exposing the wrong message. Not good.
I’m not so sure that Simply Better “strongly suports buying categories not brands”. It suports getting back to basics and that can apply to both categories and brands, dr
1 December, 2010, 11:08 pm
Hi Dennis, this actually supports the category not brand argument – attracting new drinkers to the rum category. Yes, Angostura will benefit from the campaign if it works, but so could other rums.
For Angostura, you’re right, they’ve probably identified the characteristics they want to sell in their campaign – “cool factor”, “it’s not settling” or “a step down” as Eric says, etc. But these characteristics are applicable to any rum, not unique to Angostura.
As a Trini and a rum drinker it’s hard to avoid Angostura. And yes one of their rums is my personal favourite. But I’m also still in search of a better rum. And if I find one from another company, I’ll switch. Because I am drawn to rum by the category benefits – primarily taste – not out of any desire to be affiliated with the Angostura brand.
I’m not sure how you could argue ‘Simply Better’ does not support the theory of categories over brands though, given there’s that the topic “The Primacy of Categories over Brands” is identified as a key issue in the book.
14 December, 2010, 1:09 pm
Marc, it’s hard for me to argue that categories are not important; that’s actually at the core of Angostura’s problem; = rum is seen a low quality settled for relaxation by many. So of course they need to get the image of rum up. I think the current campaigns are doing that with quantity rather than quality; so they could be more effective if they got their message right; some of it is tacky I think and that is more likely to appeal to who they have already. They need to get at the floaters and switch some scotch drinkers, dr
29 November, 2010, 3:28 pm
I was critical of the campaign myself. I thought it a waste of time as no scotch drinker would step down to rum. Well, in a conversation on the matter, a friend said that in his opinion, the target is not the scotch drinker but the rum drinker. His logic is that people always want to be elite. In this regard, the rum drinker (who is not up there financially with the scotch drinker) will see drinking Single Barrel as a step up. Makes sense to me.
14 December, 2010, 1:14 pm
Yes, they switch them from lower costing rums to higher margin rums and make them feel less like they are setlling for. Single Barrel seems to be the horse they have picked to “differentiate” most by making most “like a scotch premium experience”. So this Carnival, for example, that’s what you are likely to see them push, dr