Bacardi hatches rival to Baileys
Bacardi-Martini is planning to take on rival Diageo with the multi-million pound launch of a cream-based brand called Kalyr to rival Baileys. The launch will be the company’s first foray into the cream drink market, worth &£270m in the UK. Kalyr, which is a blend of rum and exotic fruit, will be tested in Northern Ireland before a national roll-out in the next few months.
This is not the first time that market leader Baileys has been threatened by a new launch from a rival drinks company. Two years ago, Allied Domecq launched Tia Lusso, a brand extension of Tia Maria, to challenge Baileys. At the time, Allied Domecq backed the pan-European launch of Tia Maria with a &£31m television, cinema and poster advertising campaign (MW July 25, 2002).
Tia Maria has only 4.4 per cent of the cream liqueur market, compared with Baileys’ 62.2 per cent of the market, according to the latest data from AC Nielsen.
One industry expert says: “The launch of Kalyr is a big departure for Bacardi-Martini ,which is only into white spirits and Martini. Kalyr might be able to gain in profile rather than in actual sales, because it is taking on Baileys.”
It is understood that McCann-Erickson has been appointed to handle the advertising for Kalyr. The now-defunct agency Ben Mark Orlando was originally appointed to the launch project.
