The Famous Grouse, the UK’s best-selling Scotch whisky,
has unveiled fresh packaging following a seven-figure investment designed to
drive the premium credentials and ambitious long-term development plans for the
brand. Brand controller Asanka de Silva told MJ Rabbit during
the unveiling of the new-look portfolio at the 2014 TFWA World Exhibition: “We’re
changing the packaging with a new bottle and new labels. It’s a significant
move – we felt that the brand could be more premium, and we wanted to wrap the
portfolio into one identity. We have enough assets to build a consistent
portfolio.”
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| The Famous Grouse through the ages |
The new pack includes a new-look bottle shape, a
more premium closure and metallised paper. It will start shipping in May 2015 and will be on-shelf in some markets as early as summer 2015, and across all markets by Christmas 2015.
In addition, the new marketing strategy focuses on the
tagline: “Be part of something Famous”, and will shift away from the humorous
use of the grouse character in previous ad campaigns. “The grouse is our icon,
but we’re using it in a different way. The label now shows a more stylised grouse,”
said de Silva. Personalised labels will remain a key feature of the new brand strategy, he added.
De Silva noted that The Famous Grouse’s major markets are the UK,
Nordic region and other countries in Europe.
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| The Famous Grouse label features a more stylised grouse |
Heavy investment in the brand
The investment in packaging follows recent repositioning
work undertaken across The Famous Grouse, which is seeing brand owner Edrington
invest heavily in the brand, including boosting its marketing spend by 48% in
2013.
As part of the changes, the portfolio will also see a
permanent line extension at the upper end of the blended whisky range with the
launch of a new whisky. The character of
this new whisky will be distinctly Famous Grouse but with sweeter and more
fragrant notes, the company said.
Glen Gribbon, director of The Famous Grouse, said: “The
new packaging has been developed in response to consumer demand for higher
quality packaging and will further differentiate the brand from our
competitors, setting a new benchmark for others to follow. In our view, this
design is a modern expression of our key assets: the grouse, and our ‘famous’
name, and will help us to deliver our ambitious aspirations for the brand over
the next few years.”
Currently the number five standard blended whisky worldwide
(source: IWSR 2013), Edrington aims to reach the number three spot after this
substantial investment. The brand is continuing to perform well and is
outperforming the blended Scotch whisky category. From 2009 to 2013, the
category grew at 1.3%, while The Famous Grouse grew at more than double this
rate at 2.7% (source: IWSR 2013). The brand is number three in travel retail
and holds the number one spot in Scotland, the UK and many other markets.
