Premium spirits appeal to all

Take a look in the chiller cabinet of any bar or nightclub and you’ll see the impact that premium packaged spirits (PPS) have had on the youth market in the UK. Launched on the back of the popularity of alcopops, they have literally revitalised the alcohol industry and are even keeping the beer manufacturers on their toes.

Bacardi and Smirnoff own most leading PPS brands – hence the hefty ad spend that supports them. While they battle for a share of the style conscious 18to 30-year-old market, in reality their customers are more of a mixed-bag.

Research by consumer information company Claritas looks at who is really buying these innovative pre-mixed drinks. Their National Shoppers Survey asked which of the following PPS brands 18to 30year-olds purchased on a regular basis – Bacardi Breezer, Bacardi Rigo, Smirnoff Ice, Smirnoff Mule, Hooch, Red Square, V2 and Metz.

Looking at the broad consumer profile of people buying PPS brands, they appear at first glance to resemble the young, stylish, sophisticated people with bags of attitude commonly portrayed in PPS ads.

The majority are aged 18to 34-year olds, although there is a representation of 35to 44-year-olds.

However, when examining the survey data brand by brand a different picture emerges and we see how divergent these customers are.

While women are more likely than men to buy a PPS product, the gender differentiation is not as significant as is commonly thought. As expected, students represent a key market for these brands, but other occupation types including manager in business, admin/clerical and manual worker are important too.

In terms of income, PPS consumers tend to be in the higher salary brackets and are most likely to earn between £20,000 and £30,000 per year. Credit card usage for the PPS market is also above the UK average. These people spend time going to the pub, on personal computing and keeping fit.

When it comes to geography, distribution strategies often create misleading data. However, all the brands show a high incidence of PPS buying in Scotland where consumers are almost 50 per cent more likely to purchase this type of drink.

According to the Claritas data, 16 per cent of households regularly buy Bacardi Breezer – twice as many as purchase Smirnoff Ice and Hooch which share joint second place. Metz is out on its own at six per cent and the remaining brands battle it out with penetrations of three per cent or less of UK households.

The researchers point out that Bacardi Breezer is one of the original PPS brands and has the added advantage of having a multi-million pound ad spend behind it. Interestingly though, most of the PPS brands spent significantly more on advertising in 2000 than in the previous 12-month period, with the exception of Hooch, which has seen its ad spend slashed by more than 50 per cent in the same period (data provided by AC Nielsen MMS).

So how do the leading PPS brands differ when it comes to their customers? Perhaps unsurprisingly, Bacardi Breezer has the broadest customer profile, given the size of its market share. In short, Bacardi Breezer is a catch-all brand in this arena and sits in stark comparison with Smirnoff Ice and Metz. Here we see two products that are appealing to an almost identical but niche audience, despite taking different positions in the market.

Metz is no doubt the brand with the single strongest customer profile. Its buyers are predominantly 18to 24-year-olds. They are most likely to be students, but there is also a high incidence of affluent managers or admin/clerical workers buying the drink. They use Amex and store cards more regularly than other PPS drinkers and spend their cash on fashion, fitness and computing.

By comparison, Smirnoff Ice has a slightly older appeal. Buyers are most likely to be 18to 34-year-olds, but the brand does have a market in the 35to 44-year-old arena too. They are not, however, as affluent as their Metz drinking counterparts when it comes to lifestyle. For example Smirnoff Ice drinkers are the most likely group to go skiing – it’s the highest scoring leisure pursuit.

Hooch really belongs among the leading brands of alcopops, but given that alcopops were the original premium packaged spirits, it makes a valid comparison. Despite the lowest ad spend in 2000 of all PPS brands, it remains number two in terms of household penetration. It is the only brand with a strong male/female split – with men less likely to buy Hooch than women.

Hooch buyers are less affluent than buyers of other PPS brands, most revealing is their lifestyle differences. Out go all the hedonistic leisure activities like fashion and skiing. And in some more everyday hobbies, such as camping, voluntary work and fishing.

The rest of the PPS market however, has created an aspirational positioning that its customers are actually living.

Factfile is edited by Ã…se Hedberg. Keith Phillips, fmcg consultant for Claritas, contribute