By Ian Neubauer
An independent survey commissioned by United Inn-Keeper has shown consumer awareness of its Thirsty Camel banner brand is significantly higher than other independent liquor groups in Victoria and Tasmania.
“The figures were unquestionable,” said Research Advisory director, Richard Beveridge, who coordinated the survey. “Most people, if asked what liquor outlets come to mind, will mention Woolworths or Coles. But in areas where a Thirsty Camel outlet exists, the brand ranked very highly. In Victoria, the brand’s awareness level was stronger than 1st Choice and Vintage Cellars, and significantly higher than independent brands like Bottlemart and Cellarbrations.”
Released to mark Thirsty Camel’s first birthday, the telephone survey of 522 bottle shop customers across Australia’s two most southerly states followed an earlier study by United Inn-Keeper that found bottle shop banner brands lacked uniqueness and personality.
“Years ago we did some research on the Inn-Keeper brand,” Beveridge said, referring to the precursor of Thirsty Camel.
“Wherever we went the results were the same: there wasn’t very much solid brand imagery. We found consumers couldn’t tell the difference between Liquormart and liquor-this or liquor-that — brands that say what they sell but don’t carry any imagery or values.”
Beveridge said United Inn-Keeper used the findings to create a brand associated with strong values and imagery.
“We found the Thirsty Camel brand was unique and different and had a sense of fun and personality and reverence, which appeals to a younger demographic of bottle shop users,” he said. “A lot of people associate irreverence with their [personalities] but a lot of these bottle shop brands weren’t reflecting that.”
Thirsty Camel has approximately 400 member outlets across every state and territory in Australia. It has created brand awareness through a marketing and communications campaign driven by irreverence, with significant investments in television, radio, press, online, direct mail and text-messaging mediums.