CASE STUDY 5
R & A BAILEY & COMPANY LTD
After more than two decades of rapid growth and market expansion into more than 130 markets
worldwide, the Baileys dedicated marketing team in Dublin, working with other teams located in
key markets around the world, believed that the time was ripe to benchmark the strategic
development of the brand and to provide it with an evolving strategic focus to ensure continued
success for the company. By 1999 Baileys has achieved the status of being the No. 1 cream liqueur
brand and the No. 1 liqueur brand throughout the world.
During the 1990s emphasis was placed on the behaviour changes the brand was seeking to effect
in consumers. Some senior executives in the company thought that insufficient emphasis was given
to the brand itself and its strengths. To effect a behaviour change, according to Aldagh McDonogh,
marketing director at Baileys, it was necessary to start with how people think about themselves
and the brand. In the past the positioning had focused on behaviour among friends and how Baileys
facilitated this, rather than on any inherent indulgence in the product itself. According to Frank
Fenn, global brand manager, the planning team at Baileys believed that the latter view could
provide more success in the future.
For many years Baileys had been a very successful value-creating brand in the UDV portfolio.
Despite its success, the marketing team toward the end of 1998 believed that the issue of
consumption frequency needed to be addressed and they decided to commission a series of
research studies. As was the case with many liqueurs, some consumers tended to reserve Baileys
for holidays, family gatherings, romantic dinners and certain other special occasions. Research
identified frequency as an issue to be addressed – consumers did not drink Baileys often enough!
According to McDonogh, this was the role for marketing communications, directed by a strong
and clear positioning statement for the brand.
Creating a new product category
During the development of Baileys Original Irish Cream Liqueur in the early 1970s, David Dand
was managing director of Gilbeys of Ireland, the parent company of R & A Bailey. Dand, born in
Dublin in 1932, joined Gilbeys in 1958 from the position as Dublin area manager with the Bulmers
Cider Company. In 1968 he assumed sole responsibility for Gilbeys of Ireland. Soon Gilbeys
acquired the agency for Courvoisier Cognac and on his return from a visit to the US, where he
acquired the franchise for Smirnoff Vodka for Gilbeys, one of Dand’s first decisions was to switch
company emphasis from gin to vodka.
Consumer trends in alcoholic beverages
In the early 1970s the US was the largest volume market for spirits followed at a great distance by
Germany and Japan. A notable feature of the international beverage market was the importance of
word of mouth communication, international travel and duty-free sales, especially for new
alcoholic beverage products.
In western markets there was a trend to lighter alcohols due to changing tastes and to very heavy
taxation on the heavier alcohols. Other trends included the more stringent application of the drink
driving regulations, the increased popularity of dining out and the growing importance of younger
people and women with preferences for lighter alcohols. More significantly, the proportion of
Americans drinking alcohol was declining, from 70 percent in 1980 to 65 percent in 1985. This
was expected to fall to around 60 percent by 2000. Observing these trends, Sam Aaron, president
of Sherry-Lehmann Inc., a leading Manhattan retailer, said:
It is a sociological phenomenon. Part of it is the caloric content of what people are drinking, but
taste is the critical factor. It will continue and we will move more and more in the direction of
European drinking habits.
Alcoholic beverages in Ireland
Liqueurs in Ireland had been viewed traditionally as after-dinner drinks for women and posed no
threat to the major spirits sector (in the US and Canada liqueurs are known as cordials). Liqueurs
were considered luxurious and priced accordingly. Until the advent of ‘Irish Mist’, liqueurs in
Ireland were imported. John D Sheridan, author and satirist, illustrated the point in an essay about
the exotic bottles that adorned the shelves of local pubs in Ireland:
They contain liquids of varying hues – bright green and dark orange, golden honey and deep
chocolate. And their labels bear names which conjure updreams of foreign romantic places:
Cointreau, Grand Marnier, Drambuie, Tia Maria and many more. They are liqueurs.
Many pub owners believed that due to high prices, low margins and slow turnover, little real profit
could be made by selling liqueurs. As a result, consumers also found liqueurs to be very poor value
for money, sold at inflated prices and in minute measures. Even though liqueurs were attractively
packaged they were usually placed on high shelves and therefore relatively inaccessible to the
barman. Referring to this practice, Frank O’Brien, an acute observer of the public house scene in
Ireland, noted:
Once the dusting of the retrieved bottle was complete the liqueur glass had to be found.
Consequently, only the tough skinned or attention grabbing consumer would be enticed to call for
a brand of liqueur in the majority of Irish licensed establishments.
For these reasons, and because of the small size of the Irish liqueur market, Irish alcoholic
beverages manufacturers had traditionally looked towards the export market to absorb most of
their output: 98 percent of the production of Irish Mist was traditionally exported. Considerable
quantities of beer and spirits had been exported each year from Ireland.
New product development – a cream liqueur
In early 1971 a committee of senior managers in Gilbeys of Ireland was formed with the express
objective of becoming a ‘think tank’ that would scan the environment for business opportunities.
As the company’s own experience and knowledge was confined to the alcoholic beverages sector,
a uniquely Irish drinks product reflecting Ireland’s heritage and unparalleled agricultural tradition
was considered appropriate. After much deliberation the think tank eventually, however, came to
realise that whiskey and cream together would be a unique product, a uniquely Irish combination
that would also remain within the scope of the company’s range of experience.
The possibility of a market for a pleasant tasting light liqueur was attractive for three reasons. First,
in the liqueur market, alcohol content was discovered to be a less significant factor in determining
preference. Since Gilbeys could reduce alcoholic strength to a minimum acceptable level, for a
liqueur, without significantly affecting consumer response, a new liqueur product could be offered
at a highly attractive price while increasing the profit margin. A company executive remarked at
the time that consumers purchased liqueurs for their taste, not for their alcoholic content. Second,
it was believed that consumer reaction to new drink types would be relatively quick and heavy
expenditure on media advertising would not always be necessary in the early stages if the product
were unique. Third, most established liqueurs, e.g. Benedictine, Drambuie and Grand Marnier, had
a low ‘use-up’ rate (the speed at which a drink product is consumed); they were high proof, more
difficult to drink and therefore took a long time to be consumed. Gilbeys’ idea was to produce an
instantly palatable liqueur that invited rapid consumption.
While the product concept was relatively simple and manageable, the chemistry proved to be a
very difficult issue to resolve as whiskey and cream do not mix naturally. Experimentation in
Gilbeys of Ireland succeeded when a combination of whiskey, cream and a complex mixture of
flavors with hints of chocolate, coffee and vanilla was discovered which passed the initial taste
tests. To keep the product fresh, each cream molecule was coated with whiskey during the blending
process when the grain spirit and chocolate and vanilla flavors were added. It took a long time,
however, before the recipe was perfected and the difficulties associated with bulk production and
shelf life were satisfactorily overcome. In the late 1990s similar issues emerged again as the
company began to consider how to cope with the much increased production to satisfy market
demand. The technology associated with pasteurization created challenges for the production team
and many issues had to be resolved.
Once the technical problems of producing a cream and whiskey mixture were solved, Gilbeys of
Ireland new product team began work on the brand name, image and packaging. The results of the
initial research, which was arranged around focus groups through IDV’s network in London and
New York were mostly inconclusive, although there was reasonable evidence that consumers liked
the taste of the new product. These first tests of the product did not make the decision to go ahead
with further testing in the UK any easier. In early 1974 the decision was made to install a pilot
plant in Dublin with a total annual capacity of 25,000 cases.
Deciding the brand name
The brief for the development of the brand name, prepared by David Dand, was that:
It should be Irish without being stagy and that it should be easy to say in almost any language. It
had to be legally protectable, capable of easy identification and one had to be able to differentiate
the brand strongly from any competitor.
The initial investment was $15,000. Numerous ideas were tried and finally ‘Baileys Original Irish
Cream Liqueur’ was chosen. The overall image of the brand had to reflect the unspoilt, natural
environment of Ireland and Irish heritage. Parallel to the off- shelf development of the product and
the brand name, a specialist firm was hired to develop bottle packaging to match the image the
company had for the new product.
o
‘Baileys Original Irish Cream Liqueur’ was a high priced, high quality, low alcohol (17 proof),
Irish product aimed at international markets in developed and developing western-type economies
with substantial populations and stable political systems. The product was initially targeted at the
female 25–45-year age group over a widening social scale consuming the product at home. In late
1981, David Dand, chairman and managing director of R & A Bailey & Company Ltd, recalled
that the original objective established for the brand was: to position the brand as an original high
quality liqueur type of drink with a solid Irish heritage, having a much wider consumer franchise
than any other liqueur, thus establishing an entirely new drink sector synonymous with, and
epitomised by, Baileys.
Launch of Baileys Original Irish Cream Liqueur
On 26 November 1974 ‘Baileys Original Irish Cream Liqueur’ was launched in Dublin having
cost in the region of $40,000 to bring to production and $15,000 to launch. The new product was
test marketed in the Netherlands and UK in 1974 and subsequently launched in these two countries
and Denmark. Gilbeys of Ireland, through its subsidiary, the newly established R & A Bailey &
Company Ltd, sometimes operated through agents but normally channelled the new product
through national distributors to regional wholesalers and then to retailers. In making the channel
decision Baileys management placed the emphasis on being able to work closely with the local
expertise of exclusive agents that was similar to the traditional way used by liqueur companies.
Control over the promotional activities of national distributors and the channel in each market was,
however, held by Baileys. Although the company was part of a much larger international group,
all R&D, investment, production and marketing costs were borne by the Irish company.
The company organized a series of tastings in the outlets where the product was available because,
according to a senior company executive, since the image desired for the product was one of
antiquity, it was inappropriate that the consumer should discover it through the broadcast media.
Rather, consumers should feel that they had discovered something that had always existed. This
strategy was extremely successful. Tastings complemented by trade press advertising followed by
heavy consumer advertising were to remain the cornerstone of the Baileys international market
entry strategy throughout the world. The extensive tasting programme continued through 1977
supplemented by the first advertising campaign featuring a public house as the setting. Research
subsequently showed that the product was consumed at home, typically by women over 25 years
old having purchased in off-licence establishments. Following this discovery, the advertising
setting was changed.
In 1975 19,000 cases were sold, by 1980 sales had increased to 1.45 million cases, by 1990 sales
had reached 3.5 million cases and 4.2 million in 1997 (Exhibit 5.1). By 2003 sales were expected
to reach 5 million cases. By early 1981 Baileys was selling to more than 30 countries and territories
worldwide, by 1995 it was 120 and by 1999 it was 130 (Exhibit 5.2).
Brand communications in the early years
The company attempted to ensure that the taste message, already discovered to be very powerful,
was clearly brought out and emphasised in all its communications. Some examples of Baileys
advertising themes in various international markets at the time illustrate the point:
The cream is real, the whiskey is real, only the taste is magic
Ontdek de fijnheid van het ongeroepte stoere Ierland
Decouvrez la douceur tendre de la rude Irlande
Irish Cream har kommit till Sverige!
El gusto magico de Irlanda
Original Irish Cream. Med aegte irsk whiskeyOriginal Irish Cream schmeckt: so echt nach
Cream, so recht nach Whiskey, so sehr nach mehr
Furthermore, the blend of whiskey and cream in the brand enabled the company to claim that the:
heritage of Baileys derives naturally from the history and traditions of Ireland, long renowned
as an agricultural country with some of the finest dairy products in Europe and a parallel
tradition of whiskey.
Initial market acceptance
Target annual sales of 50,000 cases in the three years following launch were forecast. Previous
market research had shown indifferent results and industry experts disliked the drink. In a more
rigorous market research test, using paired outlets, sales volume was encouraging but not
outstanding. In regard to sales expectations Keith McCarthy-Morrogh, at that time Gilbeys of
Ireland marketing director, recalled:
We were looking for a sideline which would be new, distinctly Irish, and which would
develop, after about three years, into something which would sell about 50,000 cases a
year.
Sales took off almost immediately and exceeded the 1,000 case mark in Ireland during the
following year. For the senior management team, the taste of Baileys was the fundamental reason
for its success and it was taste that the company believed distinguished the brand from all other
spirits and imitators. As David Dand remarked at the time of the launch in Dublin, the brand:
offers the consumer the potency and sophistication of a liqueur, while remaining a most
moderate drink.
A universal appeal for Baileys was first recognised by management in 1975–76 when they noticed
that the product was selling well in the stores in a number of US air force bases in Germany. Noting
this male segment a senior Gilbeys’ executive at the time stated:
his endorsement for the product is essential in ensuring credibility as an alcoholic drink.
Immediately on entering the German market, Baileys faced competition from ‘Chantre Cream’, a
local ‘me-too’ product sold at a much lower price. Baileys’ entry to the Australian market resulted
from an accidental meeting between David Dand and the local Grand Met distributor who agreed
to take an initial shipment of 400 cases. Baileys was an immediate success, especially in rugby
clubs where it was reported that after a game, cold and exhausted players consumed the product
‘by the neck’.
Throughout the late 1970s the demand for the product constantly outstripped supply and the
company invested over $1.5 million in new production facilities including a range of large tanks,
additional manufacturing plant, a new bottling line, extensivenew warehousing and office
buildings. The undercapacity problem was an important factor behind the company’s decision to
delay entry into the US market until 1979. David Dand recalled:
We couldn't enter the American market immediately simply because we did not have the
production capacity to satisfy anticipated demand.
In addition, Baileys management believed that they had to acquire significant experience and a
reputation on international markets before tackling the lucrative US market. At that time the US
was the world’s largest market for liqueurs accounting for 4.3 million cases or approximately onethird of total world imports; a further 37 million cases were manufactured in individual countries
for local consumption. By the late 1980s the longer term objective for the brand was to develop
through the liqueur market into the mainstream drinks market. The key indicator to market
selection, however, was that markets had to have a proven track record in their demand for
international liqueur brands.
By 1979 liqueur exports from Ireland had reached almost 2 million cases; 35.4 percent of which
was sold in the UK; 18.6 percent in the US and 11.3 percent in the Netherlands. It is estimated that
liqueur consumption in the US reached 18.25 million cases in 1980, of which 27 percent was
imported. Consumption of liqueurs in the US market was estimated at 0.75 litres per person per
year. Other significant markets in terms of per capita consumption were Belgium, Italy, the former
West Germany, France and Canada. In the three years 1976–78, Baileys produced 1.59 million
cases of which 95 percent was exported.
By mid-1995 Europe had become Baileys largest market accounting for 51 percent of sales, North
America for 30 percent, duty-free outlets for 12 percent and the remaining 7 percent divided among
the emerging markets of Asia, Africa and Latin America. The company’s medium term strategy
was to establish Baileys in six key emerging markets – the former Soviet Union, China, India,
Japan, Brazil and Mexico – and persuade existing consumers to drink more Baileys.
Organizational context and structure
In the mid-1990s the worldwide spirits drinks industry was dominated by Guinness’s United
Distillers, Grand Metropolitan’s IDV, Seagram Spirits and Wine Group and Allied-Domecq’s
Hiram-Walker. In 1997 Guinness and Grand Met merged to form Diageo, thus bringing
International Distillers and Vintners and United Distillers together to form United Distillers and
Vintners (UDV). The Big Three continued to rationalize production, reduced head office staff and
purged the portfolio of weak brands. Some of the cash saved was diverted to marketing and
salesforce support for flagship brands. By the end of the 1990s it was believed that growth for
brands would come from new markets in eastern Europe, Russia, the Far East and Latin America.
Strength in distribution
IDV was a strong force in marketing and distribution of whiskey marketing (most Scotch brands,
J & B Rare and Black Velvet Canadian Whisky), gin, vodka, rum and liqueurs, not only in the UK
but also in several other countries. Before the merger of Grand Met and Guinness two large spirits
groups dominated the industry: International Distillers and Vintners on the Grand Met side, the
ultimate owners of R & A Bailey & Company and United Distillers on the Guinness side. IDV had
ranked a close second to Guinness’s United Distillers with the corporate roots of its various
predecessor firms going back to the early 17th century.
IDV was formed in 1962 from the merger of W & A Gilbey and United Wine Traders, which
brought together the production knowledge of the former with the marketing skill of the latter. The
new company inherited an impressive but unstructured portfolio of long-established prestigious
brands in various stages of international maturity. In the late 1970s IDV was still little more than
a loose confederation of different operating companies bound together by history but with little
coordination of direction. There was no corporate view on branding and little contact between
R&D and marketing.
At an IDV planning meeting with sceptical senior executives and chief executive officers of
subsidiary companies held in York, England, in 1978, the R & A Bailey & Company marketing
team presented its international marketing plan for the then emerging Baileys Original Irish Cream
Liqueur brand. The marketing team reviewed the brand’s performance, already on the market since
1974, and optimistically discussed the possibility of a five-year sales forecast of 1 million cases
per year. A director of R & A Bailey & Company later recalled that, at that stage, sales were
running at somewhere between 0.60 million and 0.75 million cases each year. The strength of IDV
had rested on its small brand portfolio and, in particular, on its famous whisky brand J & B Rare.
Responding to retailer power
Retailers had become very powerful and by the late 1980s were beginning to show their muscle in
various ways. One outcome of this was the polarization of country markets into strong brand
portfolios facing strong retail chains. As the latter internationalized they were expected to threaten
margins. In the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s there was a pronounced trend away from ‘ontrade’, i.e. in pubs and bars, towards supermarket sales. The price differences between branded
whiskies and private label had grown in some cases to £3–4 a bottle in the UK. In the recessions
of the late 1980s these premiums were very difficult to maintain. As a result own-label whiskey
sales in the UK had grown to about 20 percent of off-trade sales. A similar pattern was evident in
France for white rum and in Germany for gin. During recessions consumers questioned brand price
value. According to Ned Sullivan, CEO from 1991 to 1995, the Baileys brand price value was also
affected: ‘The price–value relationship has got to be taken into account, whether you are selling a
$16 brand or a $10 brand.’
As a result of these trends major brand owners had increasingly sought to acquire control of
wholesale distribution channels rather than to rely on competitors to distribute their brands where
they had no national marketing presence. In Europe, the Big Three – Diageo, Seagram and Allied
Domecq – had acquired their local wholesalers. By consolidating distribution, the drinks industry
hoped to improve its bargaining position. In the US legal restrictions prevented drinks companies
from owning distribution or retail outlets – a three-tier system of manufacturer, wholesaler and
retailer existed and no firm could operate in more than two tiers. Consequently, an importer would
have to use different distribution channels depending on the state.
Brand management in UDV
In the early 1990s IDV and UDV began to emphasise a new context for their beverages based on
the insight that consumers were ‘drinking less but better’. At the time of the merger the IDV top
three brands, Smirnoff, Baileys and J & B Rare, accounted for about 80 percent of profit
contribution. Smirnoff was outselling J & B Rare by a factor of 3:1. At the time it was the world’s
largest selling vodka and second largest spirit brand. Sales of Baileys were reported to be slightly
more than 20 percent of Smirnoff sales and growing rapidly. Other well-known brands in IDV’s
portfolio were Gilbeys Gin, Malibu, Piat D’Or, Croft Sherry. Black Velvet Whisky and Amaretto
Di Saronno.
The basic business unit in IDV was defined by a single portfolio national or international salesforce
with closely related marketing specialists supported by administration staff. These SBUs existed
as independent businesses or were grouped into national marketing companies (NMCs) with
responsibility for a portfolio of brands in a country, e.g. Paddington in the US. Alternatively they
might be grouped into international brand companies (IBCs) with responsibility for one or more
brands worldwide under the control of an international brand director, the custodian of the brand,
and was responsible for its performance and development on a worldwide basis. R & A Bailey &
Company Ltd was an IBC. The central concept of the SBU was that it should enable UDV to
benefit from the advantages of being small within a large corporate structure.
A clear matrix structure was implied in these arrangements. It was expected that creative tension
and conflict would arise between the international brand directors and the national marketing
companies but these conflicts were expected to be resolved by pragmatic compromise to optimise
the IDV position. Unresolved conflict was to be referred upwards with the director making a case
based on brand profitability and the company basing its case on local profits in the territory.
Emerging international markets
United Kingdom
Baileys was launched in the UK in 1974 when sales reached 2,500 cases. In 1981 they had reached
396,000 cases but by 1989 they had fallen to 390,000 cases. By the mid-1980s many copies had
arrived and Baileys was no longer perceived as unique. In 1985 Baileys held 63 percent of the
market it created. At that point management introduced a marketing campaign focused on Baileys
core values of taste and something special, which was often translated as sophisticated indulgence.
This campaign worked well in that sales were maintained at 390,000 0.75 litre bottles but
improvements in brand equity allowed the company to raise prices from sherry level pricing at
$9.50 to mainstream spirits pricing of $16, over a five-year period. The expected increase in sales
volumes did not materialise, however. In 1990 Baileys had the largest share of the cream liqueurs
segment with 95 percent of the on-trade business and 60 percent of the off-trade business. The
brand was highly profitable with a franchise predominantly female and older, consumed alone or
by couples at home.
A number of consumer issues in the on-trade market caused concern. Consumers viewed Baileys
as a traditional liqueur and this restricted usage to traditional liqueur occasions. Self-indulgent
treats at home was not the image Baileys wished to promote, according to McDonogh. The issue
was aptly captured in qualitative research at the time:
I wouldn’t drink Baileys in a pub because you only get a small measure and it’s so
expensive. (woman in Chingford)
It’s not the sort of thing I would ask for in a pub. One sip and it’s gone and you would be
waiting for everyone to finish their drinks. (couple in Sunbury)
Adding ice to Baileys, the marketing team believed, would create a new positioning in the minds
of consumers – a shift from a traditional liqueur to a mainstream spirit. Consumers, they thought,
were deterred from drinking Baileys because it was not similar to other spirits drinks measures so
a double measure of Baileys was needed to fulfil this need. Commenting on the double measure
one consumer said: ‘It makes Baileys a longer drink to savor.’
A number of promotional programmes building on these consumer responses were designed. The
‘Iceman’ commercial was developed in late 1990 directly to communicate the insight, mass
sampling with ice at summertime events, trade advertising highlighting the commercial benefits
of the large measure, support merchandise, e.g. large-measure optics, large-measure glasses and
point-of-sale materials, all reinforcing the ice message. The objectives of the campaign were to
increase penetration of consumers trying Baileys on ice, to develop a true on-trade consumer
franchise for the brand using ice and the double measure as the key levers and to make Baileys
into a more mainstream drink and less of a liqueur. In 1992 42 percent of consumers were drinking
Baileys on the rocks; by 1998 this had increased to 65 percent. Both Fenn and McDonogh believed
that the ice campaign in the UK had successfully changed traditional liqueur perceptions of the
brand and enabled Baileys to behave like a mainstream brand.
In early 1999 Baileys was the top selling liqueur in the UK – almost double the size of Tia Maria
– the eighth largest spirits brand and the fastest growing spirit in the top 20 spirits in the UK,
growing faster than any time since its launch.
France
Advertising restrictions were a feature of the French drinks industry and have made new product
launches and image building difficult, as access to consumers was limited. Under the ‘Loi Evin’
restrictions, advertisements could not deviate beyond mention of the bottle, the label, where and
how the product was made and how it might be consumed. All associations between drink and
lifestyle were banned. Despite these obstacles, France’s liqueurs market was expanding.
Baileys was launched in France in the early 1980s and was the first and only cream liqueur for
almost a decade. For the entire period Baileys was the No. 1 cream liqueur and the No. 1 liqueur
on the French market. For a number of years the brand had a low level of consumer awareness,
trial and consumer franchise despite widespread availability. It was a strong challenge to the
Baileys marketing team to revitalise the brand, which had languished for several years, given that
television advertising for alcohol brands was banned. The challenge was to invigorate the brand
without recourse to television advertising. In 1988 the company initiated a comprehensive
consumer outdoor and print campaign.
The ‘Loi Evin’ prevented the showing of people in advertisements enjoying Baileys or showing
any emotional brand values. The message was on promoting brand awareness and supporting
product values. The media plan focused expenditure on outdoor promotion to create a ‘big brand’
status for Baileys. Company management believed this would increase brand awareness.
Several promotions were implemented in on- and off-trade with the objective of encouraging
consumers to try Baileys. Between 1990 and 1992 two major promotions were implemented, one
offered consumers quality leather goods while the other focused on a new way to enjoy the
delicious taste of Baileys in summer – frappé. Both were on-pack offers.
The marketing team at Baileys discovered that the brand was very responsive to display and tasting
promotions. Promotions were very costly, however, and desired by the trade primarily to gain retail
shelf space at certain times of the year. Outdoor media, while expensive, helped to drive brand
awareness. Overall, the outcome was sustained growth for Baileys. According to Martin Furlong,
at that time Baileys marketing manager for France, ‘a strong consumer franchise was established
by the time the campaign ended at the end of 1992’. Once the campaign ceased, the decline set in
again and the company renewed its efforts in a similar way during the period 1992–98 with a
similar degree of success. The ‘Loi Evin’ continued to apply in France, which made consumer
communication more difficult than in other markets but the strategy of promotions combined with
trial and tastings continued to bring success.
Italy and other European markets
Two local brands dominated the Italian market. Baileys held third position but was growing much
more rapidly. Indeed, Baileys was the only brand in the top five showing any growth. The Spanish
liqueurs sector, still struggling in the face of a deep recession, declined by 6 percent in 1993 to 4.3
million cases. However, the attributes that made Spain an exciting market during the 1980s were
still in place – its high on-premise sales, receptiveness to international brands and youthful
demographic profile. Industry commentators believed that with economic recovery, Spain’s
liqueurs market could eventually overtake Germany’s. The company considered that Italy and
Spain
were growth markets where prospects for further brand penetration were favourable. Elsewhere in
southern Europe, Portugal and Greece were also identified as potentially fast growing liqueur
markets.
US
Preliminary research of the US market was conducted by Austin, Nichols and Company, a
subsidiary of the Liggett Group Inc. and the US importer of Baileys for some time after the 1979
launch in the US. After a long takeover battle Grand Metropolitan acquired the Liggett Company
in May 1980 and since then, IDV has had operational responsibility for the marketing programmes
of Liggetts, a subsidiary of which, the Paddington Corporation, imported the No. 1 selling Scotch
whisky in America, J & B Rare Scotch. When Pernod Ricard SA purchased Austin Nichols and
Company from Liggetts in late 1980 Baileys was transferred to the Paddington Corporation.
The Impossible Cream
The typical introduction strategy for Baileys was to hold taste promotions at sophisticated events
such as art show openings, ski weekends and black-tie dinners, to reinforce the brand’s positioning
as a premium cream liqueur. The original advertising, based on the ‘Impossible Cream’ concept
raised a series of questions for the consumer:
Impossible – to blend whiskey with cream? To use real Irish country cream? To hold the
bite of the whiskey? Introducing the Impossible. A never before taste.
This advertising concept, which was developed while the brand was still with Austin Nichols, was
considered a successful campaign by Baileys’ management as it challenged the consumer to
respond to a technological and market breakthrough. Robert Suhr, marketing vice president at the
Paddington Corporation confirmed that:
Baileys is a uniquely personal product. People discover it, then want to share their unique
find with others. Our research indicates that of those consumers who taste Baileys, some
60 percent will buy a bottle – 20 times the ratio of other spirit products.
In states in the US where tastings were illegal, Baileys sold miniature bottles at 99 cents each in
supermarkets near the checkout. Because liquor licensing and selling laws were regulated in 18
controlled states, initial sales efforts were concentrated mainly in the open states. Throughout the
US there were several regional markets where Baileys showed exceptional growth rates –
California, New York, New Jersey and Alaska.
When Baileys was first introduced to the US market in October 1979, sales of 5,000 cases per
month were expected whereas actual results were closer to 7,000 cases. In the first six weeks
12,000 cases were sold. During the first year, 80,000 cases were sold which, according to
commentators in the alcoholic beverages industry, was a record for a new liqueur entry into the
US market. There were frequent runouts as the distributor could not keep up with the high demand.
Two factors helped the brand in the US market – it benefited from tastings in the retail outlets of
many markets and it had become so well known internationally that, through word of mouth and
duty-free sales, there was a pent-up demand for it before its launch in the US. By the end of 1981
Baileys was the market leader with 60 percent of the new cream liqueur category. The Liggett
Group attributed the initial success of Baileys in the US to a number of factors:
Baileys is called the ‘Impossible Cream’ in advertising because of its unique taste and the
fact that it represents a technological breakthrough. In four years, Baileys has climbed to
an annual world-wide sales level of one million cases, with limited distribution in only a
few countries. It has become the largest selling liqueur in England and Australia. Trade
and consumer response to Austin Nichols’ introduction of Baileys in the US was so
enthusiastic that there were immediate shortages. (Liggett Group Inc. Annual Report, 31
December 1979)
The Taste is Magic
As the product represented a technological breakthrough, advertising in the first year had to meet
the additional requirement of educating and explaining the nature of the benefits of the new product
to the consumer. When the US distribution rights for Baileys were transferred to the Paddington
Corporation from Austin, Nichols and Company, the original advertising agency, Nadler and
Larimer, claimed proprietary rights to Baileys’ advertising theme: ‘The Impossible Cream’. The
advertising emphasis under the new agency, Backer and Spielvogel, shifted from the challenge of
‘The Impossible Cream’ to taste.
The new advertising agency for Baileys in the US took the slogan, ‘The Taste is Magic’, a concept
that originated in Ireland but was developed for the US market. Because of a ban on television
advertising, most distilled spirits advertising was concentrated in magazines while television was
the most important medium for wine and beer. The 1980 magazine advertising consisted of a
picture of a whiskey barrel, cream and the Baileys’ bottle. The copy stressed, ‘the cream is real,
the whiskey is real, only the taste is magic’. As taste is difficult to describe in advertising copy,
emphasis on the magic seemed important. By 1980 Baileys’ US advertising budget exceeded $6.0
million and $7.4 million was budgeted for 1981.
It is estimated that Baileys spent $9 million on advertising in the US in 1982 and it was rumoured
at the time that the company was spending $12 per case on advertising of which $9 was media and
$3 was sales promotion. In addition to increased exposure, Baileys, commentators said, hoped to
use this money to discourage competitive market entry by raising the advertising threshold. By
1995 Baileys’ worldwide advertising expenditure had reached $80 million approximately, about
70 percent of which went on magazines and newspapers, 20 percent on billboards, bus shelters,
airports and rapid transit systems and the remainder on trade magazines and publications. Baileys
had the leading share of voice in magazines and was second to the Southern Comfort brand in
newspapers in 1980, thereby clearly throwing down the gauntlet to any brand that would dare
challenge.
Baileys’ attraction for retailers and imitators
Retailers were clamouring for cream liqueurs, which offered a margin of between 20 and 25
percent on a $10 item at a time when mark-ups for many distilled spirits and wines were suffering
under price regulations in several states. As Shanken of Impact noted:
The imported premium cream segment is among the few emerging categories in the
distilled spirits industry – it’s got the margins and growth rate for the trade, and it’s got the
taste for the consumer.
By 1985 Baileys was selling twice as much as the total sales of its direct competitors. Dozens of
cream liqueur imitators had entered the market by the summer of 1981, some of which,
commentators thought, might be important threats to Baileys – W A Taylor Company’s ‘Venetian
Cream Liqueur’ emphasised its Italian origin and a taste that was claimed to be ‘Delizioso!’.
Subsequently, the Taylor product confronted Baileys directly with the slogan: ‘The Irish are nice
but ahh... the Italians!’ Another cream liqueur, ‘O’Darbys’, imported by Bacardi Importers, was
promoted as the cream of Irish cream liqueurs. There were many more, at least 12 known brands,
each representing some threat to the established brand leader.
Among the more important threats were Irish Distiller’s (a Pernod Ricard company) ‘Waterford
Cream’; 21 Brands’ ‘Emmets’; Seagram’s ‘Myers Rum Cream’ and Renfield Importer’s
‘Carolans’. The price of Waterford Cream was marginally lower than Baileys. Carolans was
promoted as the ‘richest, freshest, creamiest, Irish taste in all the world’. O’Darbys, sold in a
smaller bottle, attributed its early success to its use as a cocktail mixer.
Emmets pursued a no-image, low price strategy. Compared to Baileys, Emmets sold for as much
as $5 to $6 less per bottle throughout the US. Furthermore, the Emmets’ bottle appeared to be
larger than Baileys’ 750 ml size, thus providing some consumers with an additional incentive to
purchase Emmets. According to Bernard Dubois, the US brand manager for Emmets at 21 Brands,
who formerly held the same position for Baileys when it was still with Austin Nichols claimed
that: ‘Emmets has successfully delivered taste parity at a lower price.’
In line with its image, Baileys adopted a premium price policy in the US market. Premium pricing
continued as a feature of Baileys’ strategy to the end of the 1990s. Baileys at $17.80 was priced at
a premium to its major competitor Kahlua ($14.23) and at a premium to the other brands in the
value cream segment. The retail price points of other brands were lower – Emmets $11.45;
Carolans $11.23; O’Darbys $9.85. In late 1999 there was continued heavy price support for
Kahlua. At the same time the cost of goods sold for Baileys as well as other Irish cream liqueur
producers had increased due to the unfavourable exchange rate and the recently imposed heavy
levy on Irish creams in the US as a result of a dispute between the US and the EU. These restrictions
reduced the company’s ability to increase price and, relative to competitors, promoted the
perception among consumers that Baileys was an ‘expensive’ or ‘special occasion’ drink.
The overall impact of these developments made it difficult for Baileys to increase price. In addition
it was necessary to put more equity into the brand. The company believed that expenditure on
AMP (advertising, marketing and promotion) was inconsistent. In 1994 advertising was 31 percent
of AMP; in 1995 it was 26 percent; in 1996 it increased to 40 percent but fell back to 33 percent
in 1997. Given the communication objectives for the brand, the ratio of advertising to overall AMP
was considered much too low.
Product platform and building the brand portfolio
In the early 1990s the world’s major liqueur companies were testing global markets with a series
of new offerings, hoping to identify or initiate new consumer trends. One significant offshoot of
the liqueurs business was the pre-mixed cocktail. Responding to the decline in after-dinner
drinking drinks companies shifted emphasis from supplying traditional sipping liqueurs to
producing ingredients for long drinks and cocktails favoured by trendy young consumers.
‘Digestif’ drinking was traditionally and continued as an important sector for Baileys but the
emphasis was changing: ‘The whole advertising and positioning of the brand, particularly over the
last six or seven years, has worked to give it more mainstream appeal,’ said Ned Sullivan in late
1994.
International brands may have dominated the liqueur category’s top ten list, but local traditional
liqueurs still played a major role in many key markets, particularly in Europe. In Germany, the
world’s second largest liqueurs market, four of the top five brands were essentially local brands,
with Berentzen Cream leading at 1 million cases (Exhibit 5.3). In Spain, France and Italy, three of
the top five liqueurs in each market were local brands. These markets offered a major opportunity
for international brands to draw sales from local products.
One of the most dramatic changes for the liqueurs sector occurred in Scandinavia. In Sweden, the
high prices for international spirit brands and fine wines were slashed in 1992 when the taxation
structure for wines and spirits was changed from a value-based system with an alcohol-by-volume
(ABV) calculation. While virtually all premium spirit brands stood to benefit, the low to midstrength products experienced the most dramatic price cuts. The retail price for a half-litre bottle
of Baileys Original Irish Cream Liqueur fell from SK147 (US$19.11) to SK83 (US$10.79) – a 45
percent price reduction. One of the three greatest challenges at IDV was to take advantage of the
opening up of the Scandinavian drinks market. Even with more competitive pricing, brand building
in Scandinavia was expected to be difficult, with wide-ranging restrictions on alcohol advertising.
Thus, sales effort to the trade was critical in Scandinavia.
Baileys Light and Gold and other brand extensions
R & A Bailey & Company’s first product extension sought to address diet concerns. ‘Baileys
Light’ was launched in the North American market in 1992. According to Ned Sullivan:
We picked up in our tracking studies that there was an opportunity for a Baileys Light.
What it has done is appeal to a slightly different segment of the market – consumers of
light products and occasional users.
The objective for this brand extension was to re-attract lapsed (tried but not in the previous year)
Baileys users and to hold and maintain current users who had acquired health and fat concerns. In
a test market, Baileys Light held strong promise in the US and that used in conjunction with Baileys
the Original it could be winning combination to increase the brand’s overall market share and
increase sales. It was noted that there were approximately 200 million adults in the US who were
potential consumers of Baileys – the Original or Light. Approximately 31 percent of these people
were aware of Baileys Light but had not tried it; 14 percent were lapsed users of Baileys;
occasional users accounted for 7 percent and the brand was unknown to 46 percent.
McDonogh was aware, however, that the product formulation of Baileys the Original, based on 50
percent less fat and 33 percent fewer calories, did not reflect the growing consumer trend toward
fat-free food and drink. She was also aware that the extension had a low brand awareness and
research suggested that the packaging should be further differentiated from that used for Baileys
the Original. McDonogh also believed that it might be worth considering delivering on the ‘100
percent guilt-free indulgence’. Consumer feedback in the US in late 1999 indicated that Baileys
Light, at 50 percent fat free, was a sub-optimal proposition for consumers. Towards the end of the
1990s there were no plans to expand the distribution of Baileys Light beyond the North American
and duty-free markets. It was subsequently removed from the US and duty-free markets.
Around the same time, ‘Baileys Gold’ was introduced, exclusively for the Japanese domestic and
duty-free markets. It featured the familiar brand flavours but incorporated a ten-year old Irish
whiskey, adding an extra touch of mellowness for the whiskey-conscious Japanese consumer.
Major emphasis was placed on developing sophisticated packaging for this version of the brand.
Baileys Gold was partly a response to the Japanese desire for luxury and the importance of gift
giving in that society.
The Baileys brand name has also been extended into other product categories. Baileys chocolates
were produced under licence by a well-known Dublin chocolatier. In 1995, Baileys teamed up with
the premium ice cream brand, Häagen Dazs (another Grand Met brand, now also part of Diageo)
to produce Baileys-flavoured ice cream. Extensions into the food sector were expected to expand
the market for Baileys, as it was believed that people would likely be reminded of Baileys after
tasting the chocolate or ice cream version.
A new brand – Sheridans
In 1992 a new standalone cream liqueur brand, Sheridans, was launched by R & A Bailey &
Company Ltd. The ultimate aim was to produce another major spirit brand, not just in Ireland, but
worldwide. Sheridans was the first global product to be introduced by R & A Bailey since the
creation of Baileys Original Irish Cream in 1974. Two other spirit-based liqueur products were
introduced in the 1980s, ‘Demitasse’ and ‘Penny Royal’, neither of which met company
requirements on profitability or market share and so were withdrawn. Over $2.5 million was
invested by R & A Bailey to produce a tailor-made production line for Sheridans’ dedicated
production team.
Sheridans was a unique double spirit comprising a white top tasting of creamy vanilla floating on
a dark body of liquid tasting of rich coffee chocolate (sometimes referred to as a ‘Guinness looka-like’, in liqueur form). The white spirit was 17 percent alcohol and was made of fresh cream and
Irish spirit. The dark was 26 percent alcohol and composed of a select Irish spirit infused with
natural chocolate and coffees. The bottle, considered by Pat Rigney, the brand Director for
Sheridans at the time of the launch, to be one of the brand’s greatest assets and an integral part of
the brand’s personality, was really two bottles in one: two adjoining bottles, individually capped,
containing 500ml of dark spirit and 250ml of white. In 1994 the company introduced a smaller
350ml. version to stand alongside the 750ml bottle.
In its first year alone, Sheridans sales exceeded 100,000 cases and estimates for the future were
very high. Sales of 500,000 cases a year was the long-term target. Sheridans sold more than many
established brands in duty-free outlets worldwide and in many of the 20 countries where it was
available including the US, Germany, the UK, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. In 1995
in Ireland it ranked second only to Baileys as the country’s best selling liqueur. According to
Rigney, Sheridans was unlikely to join Baileys as a multi-million case seller – ‘Sheridans will not
be another Baileys in terms of volume – it will be a niche premium brand.’
Sheridans was promoted as a premium brand with an image and price to match; it was 30 percent
more expensive than Baileys. Of particular satisfaction to the company was the fact that the new
product appeared to have expanded the liqueur market rather than take consumers away from
Baileys. For example, in Ireland, 10,000 cases of Sheridans were sold in 1992, its first year on the
market, compared to 40,000 cases of Baileys.
Value brands – Emmets and O’Darbys
In addition to the Baileys and Sheridans brands the company acquired two well-known liqueur
value brands, Emmets and O’Darbys, in the portfolio as a result of the company’s 1991 acquisition
of R & J Emmet & Company Ltd, for $5.5 million. According to Ned Sullivan: ‘The acquisition
of Emmets has been financially very good for us – strategically it got us into a segment of the
market which we could not enter with Baileys. In the US, Baileys is $18 a bottle, Emmets is $12
a bottle while O’Darbys is $8 a bottle.’ The company did not advertise its two lower priced brands,
relying instead on the price incentive and occasional in-store promotions.
While Baileys and Sheridans targeted the high end of the market, the R & J Emmet & Company
brands aimed at the lower end. R & J Emmet & Company brands catered for the cost-conscious
consumer. The brands were maintained as separate entities. Production of Emmets continued in
the Bailieboro plant in Co. Cavan, Ireland, about 90 minutes drive northwest of Dublin, rather than
being consolidated with Baileys production in Dublin. As Ned Sullivan pointed out:
Baileys bring 1800 trade buyers and their salesforces to Ireland every year to visit the
factory. Can you imagine their reaction if they saw Baileys coming down one production
line, and Emmets coming down an identical line beside it?
While neither Emmets nor O’Darbys has been introduced in the UK, it is likely that if they were,
each would be targeted at wrestling the No. 2 slot from Carolans, a competitor of Baileys. In 1994
sales of Emmet Classic reached 300,000 cases a year while O’Darby Irish Cream sold 280,000
cases. Dubliner Irish Cream, an Emmet brand extension, was popular in Italy where sales exceeded
50,000 cases, while Bananas ‘n’ Cream (an extension to the Emmet line) sold 60,000 cases in the
Canary Islands alone.
Moving forward – the new focus
According to the company, Baileys drinkers by the mid-1990s had become younger and more
affluent – in the 21–35 age group with a 55–45 percent female–male split. Volume consumption
by core users was reported as light. In the UK, for example, the average consumer enjoyed two
glasses of Baileys a month whereas worldwide, consumers drank one bottle a year on average.
Addressing this issue the company embarked on a number of new advertising campaigns and brand
extension strategies.
Market research revealed that many consumers viewed Baileys as a late-night winter drink or a
special occasion tipple. In order to boost consumption, the company launched advertising
campaigns aimed at modifying these images. Baileys was also promoted as a ‘summer drink’
through the Baileys on Ice campaign and its use in Irish-style coffees had also been encouraged.
While the Baileys on Ice campaign had been very successful in promoting the brand, particularly
new ways in which to use it, the campaign also pointed to considerable variation in consumption
of the brand across markets and across consumers in specific markets. To reinforce the Baileys on
ice theme, in 1994 the company signed a deal worth $8 million to sponsor the World and European
figure ice-skating championships for five years. In 1994 both championships were watched by 270
million viewers.
Reassessing the positioning of Baileys
Given that a substantial proportion of total yearly sales of Baileys occurred during December, with
the Christmas week accounting for 27 percent of annual volume, advertising and promotion
activities were heavily concentrated in this period. In the UK alone, a nationwide advertising
campaign worth $4 million backed the brand in November–December 1994. The key issue for
McDonogh was what might inspire consumers to form a continuing relationship with Baileys? The
consumer planning function set out to: identify and validate the most motivating, relevant and
salient international brand positioning for Baileys, one that would unite the most motivating
expression of Baileys’ core values with a growing universal need and motivation.
It was essential, she argued, that ‘this positioning be relevant for 25–35-year-old men and women,
as our primary market and, to a lesser extent, to consumers less than 25 but above the legal drinking
age, our secondary target’. From the extensive research available she concluded that there were a
number of aspects of the Baileys brand, each of which had strengths and weaknesses in terms of
consumer motivation. The planning team faced the test of discovering for the brand, propositions
capable of exciting consumers and hence enticing them to drink more. The research also showed
that Baileys was seen as belonging to two categories – spirits and indulgence products.
Specifically, the research showed that for all liqueur brands the following were among the top ten
perceptions of consumers:
• tastes good, good gift, good for guests
• users are smart, intelligent and know what they want and are sociable
• liqueurs were nice to give to people who often were gourmets/connoisseurs and enjoyed
the company of close friends, laughter and generally having fun
• consumers bought these products primarily at Christmas, during holidays, for after dinner
by the fireside, as a nightcap or for a romantic evening.
The company wished to ensure a clear brand personality and imagery. It was argued, therefore,
that the Baileys brand positioning needed to be revised. It was the view of respondents in the
research that the brand’s image or personality should become sharper, even with a bit of edge.
Some research studies had indicated, moreover, that the brand was slightly old fashioned and safe,
bordering on the boring, but ‘nice’. Baileys was still considered the Original Irish Cream Liqueur,
based on a unique recipe of quality ingredients providing the user with a warm, delicious taste and
an appealing aroma.
The overall issue facing the brand, however, was one of regular consumption. From the research
McDonogh noted brand awareness was very high in Europe, which gave rise to very high brand
conversion rates and core consumers appeared everywhere to buy into values associated with the
Baileys brand.
In Italy and in the US, while consumers appeared to have very traditional views of the brand, they
had much weaker links to it. Was this due to a lack of knowledge about the brand among
consumers, McDonogh wondered? She believed that alcohol brands with which consumers felt a
link tended to focus more on image building, personality and emotion. Liqueurs in general, she
believed, were perceived in functional terms, partly because they were very different from each
other functionally compared to, for example, vodka brands (see Exhibit 5.4).
New geographic focus
From 1996 to about July 1997 Baileys sales growth in the US was limited by a downturn in chain
market business in California and a continuing lack of development in many of the southern states.
Costs to all firms in the industry had increased due to high exchange rates and rising production
costs. Many Irish cream liqueur companies were unable to implement price increases in 1996 due
to the need to maintain a price–value ratio relative to major competitors such as Kahlua and the
other value creams. The brand vision in US, according to McDonogh, was to become the No. 1
imported cordial/liqueur among US consumers. Sales of Kahlua stood at 1.2 million bottles in
1996.
In an effort to increase sales, one option being considered by the company was to strengthen its
position in key emerging markets such as Mexico, China, India, Japan, the former Soviet Union
and Brazil – markets which were expected to offer the best opportunities for double-digit growth.
In 1998 Baileys sales to these six markets were worth $25 million and the company hoped to
quadruple that figure in the next five years. All profit recouped in the six countries over the
planning period would be reinvested in these countries. The company expected to continue using
television advertising in Russia, Brazil, Mexico and Japan. While heavy investment in these
emerging markets was risky, R & A Bailey believed it was justified by the presence of growing
middle classes in these markets.
Eastern Europe would also continue to be a focal point. According to Martin Turner the manager
responsible for the region, eastern Europe was ‘a viable market’, although its full potential would
be limited by the lack of discretionary income. While the level of brand awareness was very high
in these developing markets, liqueur companies were emphasising product education by hosting
parties, holding seminars and making presentations in addition to advertising heavily.
In addition to these opportunities, the planning team at R & A Bailey & Company Ltd. also
acknowledged that nearly 12 percent of all Baileys sales occurred in duty-free outlets. As dutyfree sales had been eliminated within the European Union in June 1999, in compliance with EU
directives, the company planned to replace these sales in other duty-free markets globally.
New consumer focus
The dominant product attributes perceived in the US for Baileys among core users were Irish
whiskey and cream, texture, complexity of flavour, the Baileys’ bottle and presentation pack,
natural ingredients, the Original Cream Liqueur and low alcohol. The company emphasised the
delicious taste, nature and compatibility with the body and lifestyle and accessibility to a tasty
premium beverage. Research indicated that users consumed Baileys also because it was desirable,
rewarding and provided casual pleasure. The brand was perceived as playful, engaging and
surprising. All the research carried out in the US, however, pointed to weak relevance among
occasional/infrequent users. Frank Fenn realised that the continuous limited consumer conversion
to core status would restrict volume growth, which would mean that Baileys would continue at a
disadvantage to its key competitor, Kahlua. The research also showed that Kahlua users interacted
with their brand more than Baileys users, i.e. are more frequent users of their favourite brand.
The key issue in the US was to widen usage occasions and frequency of Baileys occasional
consumers by more relevant advertising communication, increased frequency of advertising
message to consumers, more on-trade promotions to project a more relevant image and usage for
the brand. The planning team was not averse to considering the creation of product extensions
which would stretch equity into new categories such as desserts, chocolates and shakes.
The coffee–cream idea already had considerable tangible market support. From research
completed as far back as 1995 McDonogh noticed some new trends among US consumers that
might affect the fortunes of the Baileys’ brand. In that year sales of coffee–cream liqueurs reached
1.5 million cases, mostly Kahlua (71%), Arrow (11%), Kamora (6%), Tia Maria (1%) and all
others (11%). The research also showed the new trend in coffee taste spreading to other spirit
categories, including vodka (Stoli Coffee); tequila (Patron XO Coffee); cream liqueurs (Kahlua
Royale and Carolans Coffee); Amaretto (Café di Amore); Sambuca (Obio Caffe). There were other
important coffee trends – in the previous five years new coffee introductions increased by 45
percent while coffee houses/bars had grown at rate of more than 30 percent. During the same
period branded coffee sales increased by 25 percent and Starbucks sales had increased by 60
percent.
Baileys’ overall performance
R & A Bailey & Company had recorded considerable success in the 26 years since it launched
Baileys Original Irish Cream Liqueur. By 2000 Baileys was the No. 1 cream liqueur brand by over
3 million cases and the No. 1 liqueur brand, selling over 4 million cases in 130 countries
worldwide. Baileys was the No. 13 premium spirit brand in the world, the No. 1 selling liqueur
and the No. 5 selling spirit in duty-free shops. According to estimates from investment analysts
Lehman Brothers, as reported in the trade press, Baileys made a profit of about $3.6 on every bottle
in 1994. Other trade sources suggested a gross profit in excess of $5 for a litre bottle. Either
estimate made Baileys the most profitable non-aged spirit in the world.
Baileys accounted for 40 percent of the milk consumed in Ireland and required 40,000 cows to
maintain the cream supply and the brand represented about 55 percent of total Irish spirits exports.
Over 90 percent of product ingredients and packaging were sourced in Ireland and the company
employed 400 people directly while there were 4,000 people in directly related employment.
Discussion questions
1. Describe the initial development and brand building of Baileys liqueur cream.
2. What is the role of market pioneering in the success of Baileys?
3. How did Baileys maintain its market leadership position?
4. How have Baileys entered international markets?
5. What was the branding challenge facing R & A Baileys & Company Ltd in 1998 and how did
the company respond to the challenge?
Key issues
Opportunities
Threats
Q3,4,5
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