A month-long promotion at London Heathrow airport for Plymouth
Gin is proving more than a regular marketing campaign for the Pernod
Ricard-owned brand. “It’s our coming out party,” enthuses global brand director
JC Iglesias, referring to the brand’s dedicated bar installed at the Terminal 5
during March, and its return to the shelves at the airport’s World Duty Free
stores after a period out of distribution.
Plymouth Gin, which has been distilled in Plymouth, a port
city in the west of England, for more than 200 years, has been
rejuvenated under the French liquor giant. The packaging was redesigned in
2012, and for the past 12 months or so, local markets around the world have
been restocking their stores with the new-look, repositioned super-premium
spirit.
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| Plymouth Gin has undergone a redesign |
“For us as a super-premium gin, we find ourselves in a
unique position,” says Iglesias. “We have a great history dating back to 1793,
a true sense of craft – we’ve been made the same way for so long – and this
sets us apart from other brands. We have great stories to tell. We have a long,
enduring history, and the milestones of the gin category itself can be marked
with Plymouth Gin.”
Iglesias notes that the new, green-tinged glass bottle is a
nod to past packaging seen in the brand’s archive, while the Mayflower ship
depicted on the label references the brand’s heritage as the British Royal Navy
gin. “The redesign brings the brand back to its roots.”
Today, Plymouth gin’s most dynamic markets are the US,
Spain, travel retail and the UK. Iglesias points out that Spain, despite the
deep recession, has seen “a gin explosion at every tier of the market”, with
fellow Pernod Ricard-owned Beefeater Dry Gin being the best-selling spirit in Spain. Meanwhile, the Plymouth Gin brand is growing worldwide,
says Iglesias, namely in Japan and Australia, with increasing interest being
shown across Europe.
Turning to China, traditionally a brown spirits market,
Iglesias notes that the gin category has not yet emerged in the country,
although the company has business there with Beefeater. “When you look at the
IWSR figures, the gin category really isn’t there yet,” he says. “The Chinese do
have baijiu [locally distilled white spirit] but that is totally different.”
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| Plymouth Gin's personalised bar at London Heathrow airport |
Heathrow airport promotion
Plymouth Gin’s personalised bar at Heathrow Terminal 5, which welcomed travellers during March, was
designed to mirror the original copper pot still that was installed at the
historic Black Friars distillery during the Victorian era in 1855, which is
still used today. The bar also featured portholes containing Plymouth’s seven
botanicals – juniper, lemon peel, orange peel, orris root, angelica root,
cardamom pods and coriander seeds – linking to the brand’s naval heritage.
The bar also offered a cocktail masterclass, enabling travellers
to create one of three Plymouth gin cocktails – the Hedgerow Slider, Marguerite
or Gimlet.
