"Yoof" whisky

[Iain]

The Herald, 10 May, hinted at death of attempts by whisky companies to attract trendy "youth market" types in UK. No bad thing, I say - it's a batty idea anyway, but these attempts were poorly executed. What do you reckon?

Extract from article -

"Diageo said: "We have ceased production of J&B -6c. The decision has been made on a global level and there are currently no future plans for the product."

"In Britain, despite gaining good distribution and building a reasonable consumer base, J&B -6c has not met the stringent performance criteria set by Diageo for ongoing production."

Meanwhile, JMR Easy Drinking Whisky Company, founded in 2003, has withdrawn its range of three blended malt whiskies - the Big Spicy One, The Smokey Peaty One and The Smooth Sweeter One - from the UK market after disappointing sales.

The company, backed by Edrington, had hoped to "demystify" the world of Scotch and make the sector more palatable to outsiders. Its three founders, brothers Jon and Mark Geary and master blender David "Robbo" Robertson, claimed they had "chucked out the Scotch whisky rule book" through their quirky and irreverent approach to marketing.

However, the company yesterday confirmed it has thrown in the towel in the UK market. Founder director Mark Geary said it will instead be focusing on the US market.
"

Full article still available on-line at http://www.scotchwhisky.net/news/index.php

[bamber]

J&B -6 is an ok blend. Had a couple of drams of it down the pub to see what it tasted like (a light blend would you believe ). Cannot really see the long term appeal though - it's never going to be anyone's daily pour.

As for the easy drinking stuff, well it was too much money, for what was no better than supermarket own label malts. Do people want whisky demystified - does not look like it.

[Feldrin]

Although I don't live in Britain I guess I'd qualify as the target audience, being young(er). And I don't think what they're trying to pursue works with some yearly changes. It'd require a lot of time to get whisky into the 'popular hip'-range kind of type. And then you'd run the risk that you don't demystify whisky but simply create something which might have to be classified as a new type of whisky, creating a new niche which leaves the 'older' market unopened, or just end up creating another mixdrink like baileys.

It is the same as the marketing with port or sherry. Both of them are, as far as I know, hardly consumed by the younger audience. They're drinks that have been typecast pretty much the moment they came out. Part of that comes from the taste that naturally appeases more to an older audience; part of it comes from the reluctance or perhaps neglect to market to a younger audience.

Then there's the price, which is very important when marketing to a younger audience. While not so much important with sherry and port (only slightly more expensive then wine) a fairly decent bottle of whisky easily fetches twice the price of a crate of beer.

To me it simply feels like there is a basic inconsistency between what they're trying to market their whisky as, and what a whisky is or has become in the eyes of the consumer. For example, the Monkey Shoulder they're advertising as a 'youth oriented' whisky. As far as the taste goes, I'd say it performs quite well. It is easy to drink yet has remarkable complexity and is well balanced. But the price of a bottle, 28 euros over here, is something that just isn't easily 'youth oriented'. It's not something you just 'go and try' if you haven't got the faintest idea and even less cash.

Whisky is slow fun, it's a thick well written book you have to put some effort in and savour. It'll take a lot of time before the book turns into an easily watchable movie without losing too much of the originals appeal.

[bamber]

Whisky is slow fun, it's a thick well written book you have to put some effort in and savour. It'll take a lot of time before the book turns into an easily watchable movie without losing too much of the originals appeal.

Like it

[Scotchio]

The whole idea of marketing whisky at the yoof market is cracked, in the UK yoofs drink for the effect of the alcohol not the pleasure of the taste and they seem most content with fizzy piss or sweet luminous syrup where any alcohol related flavours are fully disguised.
Seems to me people come more to whisky as they mature and start to enjoy alcohol for the flavour, I dont really think marketing has that big an effect, there will be people who like the odd dram who will pick up whatever single malt is cheapest and be happy and there will be others who buy the book and the anorak and end up on here. The whisky guides are the best form of marketing available.
If someone did want to advertise a whisky successfully I think they'd have to go down the clever Guiness type of route or something slow emphasizing the artistry/uniqueness of the product and linking it to the beautiful locality of production to appeal to the intelligence/escapism and possible snobbery of their target market ie 30 plus people who enjoy a drink to wind down after work or when the kids are in bed as a reward for another hard day."welcome to the glen of tranquility" as Glenmorangie said.

[Deactivated Member]

Would you ask a Cordon Bleu chef to make something to compete with Big Macs?

If you want to appeal to the vodka crowd, make vodka.

[Aidan]

Whisky is a drink like any other. I can't think of a way it will affect me if they market it to younger people, unless they use up all the maturing stocks.

As long as the same range as is available to me today is still available in a few years (with lots of additions, of course), I don't care a jot really.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

......Whisky is slow fun......

That is a good way of putting it. I could not see myself savouring whiskey as I do today 10years ago

.......... a fairly decent bottle of whisky easily fetches twice the price of a crate of beer.

I can buy a create of 24 bottles of beer for 20Euro where as a decent 12yo bottle of whiskey starts from 35Euro.

Once you buy pass regular blends whiskey is probably seen as too expensive for the younger age group.

The whole idea of marketing whisky at the yoof market is cracked, in the UK yoofs drink for the effect of the alcohol not the pleasure of the taste and they seem most content with fizzy piss or sweet luminous syrup where any alcohol related flavours are fully disguised.

That pretty much sums it up....


I was asked a questionaire on the J&B -6 last year and it was all about how the bottle and the contents looked . I was not offered the oppertunity to taste and I was then asked would I purchase it.

I said not on your life .... a clear looking whiskey just does not appeal to me (and yes I'm being totally prejudic towards it on that alone). Sorry, but if they can't be bothered to let me taste it to make a judgement only to get me to make up my mind by looks alone, well sorry guys not interested.

[pmullin]

Would you ask a Cordon Bleu chef to make something to compete with Big Macs?

If you want to appeal to the vodka crowd, make vodka.

Very well put. This reminds of the quote about common sense not being all that common.

[Feldrin]

I find it interesting that when reading the J&B Whisky site, the two main things they seem to advertise is that 'you can start a party everywhere' and that they have a guest list. The third part is actually about the whisky but doesn't seem to go into much detail.

And I'm starting to get quite annoyed at the flashiness of it all.

Just for the fun of it, compare the following:

http://www.jbscotch.com/home.htm
http://www.laphroaig.com/

[Deactivated Member]

Try to enter details on the site saying you are in Saudi Arabia. It tells you that you are not allowed to enter their site because of local regulations. So much for being able to start a party anywhere!

[martin grant]

Perhaps it is the death knell of 'yoof whisky' after all.

J&B -6 gone, JMR gone and now I hear a rumour that Monkey Shoulder is be discontinued here in the UK.

Anyone else hear anything?

I must confess to enjoying the pictures of the 'monkey caddies' on their website.

[hpulley]

I think that perhaps to market whisky to youths or people of any age you might want to market it as.... whisky?!? I think you'll find people are interested in whisky as whisky, not as a monkey or as a bunch of renegade blenders who sought to give us dumbed down whisky with really obvious names because we must be incredibly stupid. Americans must find it insulting that they will continue to peddle their low brow products across the pond.

My friends and I got into scotch at a fairly young age while at university. We got into it because a local pubs had monthly tastings of five whiskies each; at first it was practically on a dare level to drink the nasty Laphroaig and Lagavulin but after a while you get to love the stuff. Doing that for a couple of years really got us into it. Before that I'd only had scotch on the rocks (didn't care what brand of blend and didn't know what a single malt was) or Canadian whisky in cola or ginger ale. To appreciate scotch takes some time so the marketing campaigns will have to be designed appropriately, planning on how to get them to move through the ranks. It may be a bit much to expect your average twenty-year old to go out and buy a bottle of Ardbeg right away but with a brand portfolio perhaps you can lead him there through a blend and Glenmorangie though the newly packaged Glenmorangies seem more upscale than way to lead to anything else.

Harry