Bell’s is the biggest spirit brand in the UK . But it had been declining steadily for ten years and was about to lose its No.1 spot to competitor: Famous Grouse. The brand felt old, tired and its personality was described by the brand team as being “as deep as the label”. The team felt the answer had to be in shifting usage from the 50 year old plus user base, to a younger market.
We used our Adcept Methodology to create and test new positionings and personalities for the brand.
Analysis of the market showed that the vast majority of whisky was drunk by the 50+ age group. If younger people were to be persuaded to move into whisk(e)y, young brands like Jack Daniels were much better suited. Plus Diageo has multiple brands aimed at the younger consumer. It became clear it was much better to get Bell ’s working for its core older market.
Through the creation and qualitative research of Adcepts, we found that the brand was mirroring the dark, pessimistic side of the target. These 50 – 70 year old working class men were having a tough time. They had either retired and found themselves without a role or they were at the end of their career and the younger men were stronger and faster at the manual jobs that they had done all their life. Either way they had lost confidence and self respect.
The Adcepts that were truly compelling were ones that portrayed the brand as being confident in its quality and uplifting in tone. A far cry from the sad image Bells had. They wanted the brand to be of today – not mirroring the target market, not trying to appeal to the young. The brand needed to be personified by someone a little younger than them, someone aspirational, someone of irrefutable skill and quality.
These consumer insights allowed us to write a focused and rich communications brief and re-launch plan which resulted in the Jools Holland Campaign.
Within 6 months the brand was growing for the first time in ten years and within a year the threat of losing its No.1 status had disappeared.
