Jameson unveils new TV ad campaign

Jameson, Irish Distillers’ internationally available Irish blended whiskey brand has two new TV advertising campaigns – one for the US and the other for ‘the rest of the world’.

The US TV ad – the first time the brand has been advertised in the brand’s most important market, features a fictional John Jameson being swept off a boat and then arriving on the beach with the lost cask at a commemoration service for him.

The ad for the ‘rest of the world’ – Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Latvia, the Netherlands, Russia and the UK, is a series of three vignettes, featuring the stereotypical image of an Irish pub with a gale blowing outside, with its clientele being humorous and laid back, making light of the dramatic events unfolding outside.

Irish Distillers’ boss, Alex Ricard, told Drinks International that the more visual US ad, is about Jameson the brand in a market where it is already well known and about John Jameson’s entrepreneurial spirit. Whereas, the rest of the world ad is more about lifestyle, associating Jameson with how people perceive the Irish way of life.

Asked about the ad spend, Ricard said the ads were part of the annual €70 million global marketing support of the Jameson range.

Available in 24 countries, ID sold 2.76m cases of Jameson in the year to the end of June. It was 2% up in volume and 8% up in value worldwide. The key US market posted 22% growth with Bulgaria up 46%, Russia 14%, Australia 9% and South Africa 4%.

Ricard described sales as “resilient” in its domestic market, which has been severely hit by the economic downturn. Ricard said that the Irish drinks industry is appealing to the Irish government to reduce excise duties that are among the highest in Europe.

He said Irish consumers are heading to Northern Ireland to buy their alcoholic drinks, taking advantage of the UK’s lesser excise duties and the weak pound.

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