By Ian Neubauer
Diageo Australia will invest $11.5 million in the Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff brands throughout the Christmas and summer trading period.
The investment in Johnnie Walker will comprise a $3.5 million campaign entitled ‘Who knows where a stride will take you’ which will leverage the brand’s continued association with Cricket Australia; the launch of new gift packs, including the ultra premium Johnnie Walker Blue Label King George V edition and a number of whisky and glass gift sets; $820,000 in off-premise promotions, including permanent and temporary POS displays, competitions and giveaways; and $433,000 in trade incentives for Black Label at 100 on-premise venues across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
“We plan on making this the biggest summer yet for Johnnie Walker,” said Johnnie Walker marketing manager, Aude Parichot. “We have invested heavily in new creative campaigns to support our customers that will leverage our long-standing association with cricket and feature one of our largest consumer promotions to date.”
The investment in Smirnoff will comprise the giveaway of 950 tickets to summer music festivals and the sponsorship of more than 30 festivals; off-premise purchase offerings, gifts and cinema advertising linked to the November release of the new James Bond film, ‘Quantum of Solace’; $1.4 million for a promotional partnership with ginger beer to promote Smirnoff’s signature drink, the Moscow Mule; and $75,000 for the brand’s win a ‘Trip to Ibiza’ promotion.
“This is set to be the biggest summer ever for Smirnoff,” said Smirnoff marketing manager, Mary Perebzak. “Our continued involvement with music festivals will be supported by [the] brand’s biggest on-pack promotion to date, driving sales for retailers nationally.”