THE MAIN EVENT

 Gavin D Smith joins the horsy set in rural Perthshire for a dram or two of Islay malt.

 

Leading brands rarely become leading brands by accident.

 

The quality of the product is crucial, of course, but marketing also plays a vital role. Getting that product into the public eye and keeping it there is all important.

 

The promotion of Scotch whisky has come a long way since Tommy Dewar employed a bagpiper to play at full volume during the 1886 Brewers’ Show in the Agricultural Hall, and the Pattison brothers paid for 500 parrots to be taught to squawk ‘Drink Pattison’s Whisky!’

 

Today, a company such as Morrison Bowmore Distillers promotes its flagship Islay single malt using somewhat more sophisticated tactics.

 

Morrison Bowmore is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Japanese distiller Suntory, and, in addition to Bowmore, also operates Auchentoshan distillery at Dalmuir, near Glasgow and Glen Garioch at Oldmeldrum in Aberdeenshire.

 

The Glasgow-based company favours innovative advertising and promotional campaigns and a range of sponsorships, the most notable being Scotland’s premier equestrian event – Bowmore Blair Castle International Horse Trials and Country Fair.

 

Staged in the magnificent grounds of Blair Castle in Highland Perthshire, ancestral home to the Dukes of Atholl, the horse trials are held each August. Morrison Bowmore has been the main sponsor for ten years since 1996.

 

In keeping with this high profile role, the Bowmore name and logo is much in evidence on hoardings and banners at the event, a number of key obstacles on the cross-country course have Bowmore themes, and there is a dedicated Bowmore tented display and sampling bar. This features a mock kiln, genuine Islay peat, part of a simulated mash tun, and even a mini bottling line – all designed to make the experience of turning barley, water, yeast and peat into whisky a more hands on, tangible experience for visitors.

 

Morrison Bowmore’s Marketing Director is James Bewsher, and according to him “The Bowmore Blair Atholl Horse Trials is a significant Scottish sports sponsorship, having grown in international significance in the last ten years. As a ‘three star’ event it is comparable in quality terms with the likes of Badminton and Burleigh in the south of England, attracting a growing number of international competitors.

 

“With Blair, you are seeing Scotland at its best on an international stage,” says Bewsher. “Television coverage of the event has begun to put it on the equestrian map in Europe and even extends to Asia now. In conjunction, there has been a 300 per cent increase in visitor numbers to the actual event during the ten years of Bowmore sponsorship.

 

“The event provides an exciting shop-window for the brand – the Bowmore brand is everywhere, so you can’t fail to be aware of our involvement! Blair Castle is a stunning place to visit, and we have made great use of this event for corporate entertainment. The horse trials appeal to a consumer audience that is highly relevant to Bowmore and reinforces our brand values. It’s our major sponsorship, taking up a significant part of our budget.”

 

With its exquisite, historic setting and the timeless appeal of equine competition, the horse trials evoke a clear sense of heritage and tradition. When it comes to appealing to potential consumers, Bowmore certainly has heritage and tradition on its side as well. It is the oldest distillery on the island of Islay, having been established in 1779, and is one of only a handful of Scottish distilleries to have retained its floor maltings.

 

Sales volumes of Bowmore single malt have multiplied more than five times in the last ten years, and a significant part of that success has been due to Morrison Bowmore’s extensive use of imagery that capitalises on the distillery’s island location and unique Celtic heritage.

 

When the first serious promotion of Bowmore was undertaken a decade ago, the chosen style of advertising was innovative and striking, with images including a bare-breasted sea maiden. It was as far removed from the traditional iconography of Scottish soldiers, and mist-shrouded lochs and bens, so often used to sell whisky as it was possible to get.

 

The Bowmore name was largely unknown at the time, and the creative focus had to be on a simple, strong, authentic message. The adverts played on the mystical aspects of Islay, and used the strapline ‘Smoke on the Water’ – a phrase cleverly designed to appeal to the age group who would readily associate it with the Deep Purple rock anthem of 1972, composed after the group watched the casino in Montreux burn down while recording in Switzerland.

 

Morrison Bowmore went on to produce a series of ‘legends’ adverts, each one focusing on a piece of lore local to Islay, though cynics suggested, incorrectly, that they were probably made up over a dram or three of the product.

 

Once the striking visual imagery of the early campaign had done its work, the company switched its strategy, emphasising Bowmore’s role in fulfilling an emotional need and suggesting a spiritual homecoming. The strapline ‘I reached home’ was introduced, as it was deemed to give consumers an engaging message that connected them to what Bowmore was about.

 

James Bewsher says “The ‘Reach Home’ campaign has not been run for the past two years, but the concept of the spiritual homecoming remains important. Malt whisky as a whole is about discovery, because of the kind of drink it is, the flavours, the complexity, about taking your mind off the stresses and pressures of the working day. It is about putting your feet up and relaxing.”

 

Morrison Bowmore has identified Bowmore drinkers as successful, confident, hardworking individuals, who lead full lives and may live in challenging environments.

 

“The typical Bowmore drinker is aged 30-55, ABC 1, more male than female, with an educated background,” declares Bewsher. “Self-indulgent, discerning and interested in quality brands. Someone prepared to try new experiences.

 

“Our major markets are the USA, Japan, the UK and France and then Italy and Sweden in addition to emerging markets like Taiwan. We want to continue to build the brand’s reputation with consumers – one way of doing this is through international spirits competitions in which our brands consistently do exceptionally well and outperform our competitors. In this way, Bowmore has become one of the most award-winning malts of recent years. That’s a great quality endorsement for us.

 

“This year we’ve started to focus on getting the 12 year-old expression into UK supermarkets in place of the un-aged Legend. We’ve been delighted to be in a position to do this having carefully managed our stocks. The 12 year-old is the heart of the brand, and getting it to a much wider public who are eagerly looking for knowledge and quality is very satisfying. This has been achieved through hard work by our colleagues in our UK distributor, Fior Brands, and through progressive trade relationships. Previously, the 12 year-old was only available in specialist outlets.

 

“Our malt business has grown by more than 30 per cent in 2003/4, and Bowmore is now the number ten malt brand worldwide, and the number one Islay malt in the Scottish off-trade.”

 

Such growth does, however, produce its own problems, as matching production to anticipated demand a decade and more ahead is a very inexact science.

 

Inevitably, there is a finite amount of stock at any one point, as whisky has to mature before it can be drunk. From a marketing point of view there is a greater need to be truly strategic than in almost any other industry. As a whisky industry insider once said, “Only the nuclear industry has similar timescales!”

 

In its promotion of Bowmore single malt, Morrison Bowmore manages to blend tradition and innovation in a notably skilful manner. In a way it is extraordinary that whisky made in a small town with a population of 400 people on a remote Scottish island can be found on the counters of stylish bars in bustling, crowded cities like Shanghai and Hong Kong.

 

Undoubtedly, the image of Bowmore as an alluring form of sanctuary has successfully, and profitably, reached home all around the world.

  

 BOWMORE SINGLE MALTS

 

One apparently obvious yet highly successful way in which Morrison Bowmore promotes its products is by public tastings, and a ‘tasting tent’ is a feature of the Bowmore Blair Castle International Horse Trials. Here a tutored tasting by a member of the Bowmore team features three key single malts from Bowmore’s extensive range, namely the12 year-old, Darkest, and 17 year-old expressions.

 

A key aspect of promotion, particularly in emerging markets, is what might be termed education. According to James Bewsher, “We do lots of tastings to get the Bowmore message across, and lots of PR events to keep the brand in front of consumers.”

 

The effectiveness of this strategy is illustrated by the fact that Bowmore is now the best-selling Islay malt and the number two single malt in Sweden, where all alcohol advertising is banned.

 

 [Tasting notes by David Stirk]

 

12 year-old

Nose: Smoky peat. Bonfire. Undertones of sweet oak.

Palate: Spiky. Peaty. Fireworks in the mouth. Medium bodied.

Finish: Medium finish. Long bittersweet aftertaste.

 

Darkest

[Aged in ex-bourbon casks, with a final maturation period in Oloroso butts]

Nose: Rich sherry and peat smoke. Background bonfire notes. Stewed fruits.

Palate: Full on dry sherry being washed out by peat. Heavy and very rich. Salty.

Finish: Medium finish. Lots of sherry.

 

17 year-old

Nose: Minty, spirity, soft delicate peat.

Palate: Minty, fresh. Sweet peat. Medium body.

Finish: Short finish, earthy, peaty.

 

The Bowmore single malts range includes a variety of other expressions, up to a 25 year-old, along with very rare vintage expressions such as a 1957 38 year old). It also features the duty free/travel retail favourite Surf, and the unaged Legend, which accounts for some 30 per cent of all Bowmore sales.

 

Recent Bowmore innovations include a pair of premium gift presentations, The Classic Collection and The Cask Collection. Each contains three 20cl bottles, with The Classic Collection comprising the three award-winning aged expressions of Bowmore, the 12 Year Old, the 15 Year Old and the 17 Year Old. The Cask Collection features the trilogy of Bowmore wood finishes - Darkest, Dawn and Dusk. Each of the three are matured first in bourbon barrels and finished in a different wood - the Bowmore Darkest in Oloroso sherry butts, Bowmore Dawn in port pipes and Bowmore Dusk in Claret casks. Additionally, a new expression of Bowmore 12 year-old Enigma (with a sherry-matured emphasis) is being launched this year into the duty free/travel retail market in Europe.