Soul triumphs in Drambuie pitch

Soul has won the advertising for Drambuie Cream Liqueur, beating cdp-travissully and Burkitt DDB in a competitive pitch.

The &£1m budget will be concentrated on a print campaign in the three months leading up to Christmas, the product’s key sales period.

Drambuie Cream is the cream variant of the original Drambuie Scotch whisky liqueur. It was piloted last Christmas and a spokesman for The Drambuie Liqueur Company claims it outsold rivals such as Amarula Cream Liqueur and Sheridan’s. “That was without any advertising – so we’re confident enough to put some marketing muscle behind it,” he says.

Two weeks ago, The Drambuie Liqueur Company moved distribution of Drambuie and Drambuie Cream from Guinness UDV to Bacardi-Martini (MW May 30).

Advertising for the main Drambuie brand, which is handled by Burkitt DDB, is unaffected by Soul’s win. The Drambuie spokesman said plans for the main brand’s Christmas campaign were well advanced, with a return to television scheduled – Drambuie was last on TV in 2000. The main brand last advertised in the third quarter of 2001, with a moving annual total of &£674,000, according to figures from ACNielsen MMS.

The Drambuie Liqueur Company is owned by the MacKinnon family, which also owns the Glenvarigill luxury car dealership. A &£10m buy-out bid by the management of Glenvarigill has sparked suggestions that Drambuie itself may be up for sale, but the company’s spokesman denied the rumours.