With sign loss on the rise, many advertisers are giving first-party knowledge extra of a shot.
Not scotch whisky model Dewar’s, although. (On this case, “whisky” is the proper spelling – “whiskey” with an “e” is used for Irish and American varieties.)
Whereas Dewar’s has entry to its personal inside gross sales knowledge, for the needs of advert concentrating on it primarily depends on social media to seek out its viewers.
The size of a walled backyard like Meta permits Dewar’s to achieve audiences primarily based on affinity whereas obeying age-related alcohol promoting restrictions.
“We’re actually cautious as a corporation to be tremendous compliant on the subject of first-party knowledge,” stated Laila Mignoni, world VP of promoting and inventive excellence at Bacardi, which owns Dewar’s.
Altering course
Focusing on self-identified whisky drinkers has confirmed efficient, after all. However so has concentrating on followers of golf, given how a lot the 2 audiences overlap.
“The hyperlink between pure Scotch whisky and golf actually goes again to its origins, to Scotland,” stated Brian Cox, VP of Dewar’s for North America.
What’s extra shocking is that golf, one of many solely viable choices for pandemic socializing in 2020, continued to develop lengthy after the tip of social distancing.
Based on the Nationwide Golf Basis, 35.5 million People performed golf both on or off the course in 2019. By final 12 months, that quantity had jumped to 45 million. Of these, 18- to 34-year-olds symbolize the biggest section, at simply over 12 million.
To succeed in their ultimate persona inside that group – particularly, millennial drinkers over the age of 30 with disposable revenue – Dewar’s has begun to include extra digital, social and experiential choices into its media combine, together with placements on Golf.com and america Golf Affiliation (USGA) web site.
Dewar’s additionally works with Instagram influencers, comparable to #MakeGolfCool’s co-founder Roger Steele, in addition to with academic or review-based YouTube channels, just like the Whisk(e)y Vault.
“In a class like whisky, you’ve got a number of communities, be it from a life-style perspective [or] from an experience perspective,” Mignoni stated. “ the way you construct communities and the way we will section these communities by means of social media is essential to us.”
Drivers of success
Though digital represents a bigger portion of its promoting price range, linear TV nonetheless has an essential place throughout the Dewar’s media combine.
Dewar’s is a serious associate of the US Open broadcast, which, in 2024, noticed record-breaking numbers on NBC and Peacock, together with a 17% viewership enhance on streaming.
Cox shared that round 10 million of the individuals who tuned in in the course of the event seemingly engaged with the model’s on-line presence indirectly, whether or not through its social media presence or on USGA.com.
Audiences uncovered to a Dewar’s advert in the course of the US Open have been additionally extra engaged with the model than those who weren’t, in response to dwell brand-tracking research performed by Dewar’s.
Extra importantly, although, gross sales are up. Since turning into the official scotch whisky of the US Open in 2021, Dewar’s has seen progress in its total market share, significantly amongst 30- to 40-year-olds.
However for Cox, the most effective type of promotion is “liquid to lips” – in different phrases, letting the product communicate for itself, significantly on the model’s in-person activations at {golfing} occasions throughout the nation.
“We’ve got fairly a complicated advertising and marketing and gross sales machine,” he stated, “however it all the time comes again to what’s within the bottle.”
