Diageo to foray into China’s female alcohol market with Baileys liquor
June 23, 2013 Leave a comment
Diageo to foray into China’s female alcohol market with Baileys liquor
Staff Reporter
2013-06-23
Diageo, a alcoholic beverage company headquartered in London, intends to dominate China’s female market by continuing to promote its liquor brand Baileys, the Global Entrepreneur magazine reports.
The creamy sweet liquor is a popular drink among female consumers around the world, with women reportedly consuming 2,365 glasses of the drink every minute. Baileys was first introduced globally in 1974, while its annual sales have touched 8.3 million cartons, making it the best seller among sweet liquor brands. Similar brands, such as Malibu, Dita and Kahlua affiliated with the French drinks conglomerate Pernod Ricard are its strongest competitive rivals in the market.Despite its global popularity, Baileys has yet to grab a significant share of China’s female alcohol market, the magazine said, adding that it is not easy for foreign brands to establish themselves in China and it is particularly difficult to attract the country’s female consumers.
Introduced into the Chinese market in 2005, Baileys immediately targeted women as Chinese liquor or baijiu along with whisky remained popular with male consumers. However, Diageo found that there was no precedent for such a strategy, with no liquor brand targeting women, who now enjoy increasing financial strength and a higher social status, a spokesman for Diageo China said.
Capitalizing on China’s rapidly growing foreign liquor market, Baileys achieved a 43% net growth in sales during the first half of last year, driven by Diageo’s aggressive advertising campaigns. Baileys will continue to be targeted at women aged between 25-35 years, which form its main consumer group, while advertising campaigns will focus on the 3Fs concept: fun, fearless, female. In other words, the product is catering to fun and fearless women.
Baileys is a household British name and its a popular beverage during holiday seasons in the country. Its brand awareness in China has doubled from 40% in 2010 to become the top pick among liquor for women, the Global Entrepreneur said, adding that it still remains a foreign and unusual brand for Chinese consumers and Diageo China will have to increase the drink’s appeal with Chinese consumers.
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