Drambuie chief keen to cash in on Mad Men's 1960s glamour

Saturday 16 June 2012

MAD Men, the stylish television show about life in a New York advertising agency in the 1960s, may not seem the most likely source of a sales boost for a Scottish drinks company.

PERFECT MIX: Chief executive Michael Kennedy says promoting Drambuie as an interesting, complex drink and cocktail ingredient can be key to its success.

Custom byline text:

Saturday interview GREIG CAMERON

But Michael Kennedy, chief executive of Drambuie, believes the resurgence the Emmy award- winning programme has sparked in retro cocktails is one reason the whisky liqueur is once again seeing growth in its biggest market of the US. The creation of other flavoured whiskies and bourbons by industry giants such as Jim Beam and Jack Daniels isn't doing any harm either.

Mr Kennedy said: "That whole Mad Men effect has definitely sparked an interest in traditional cocktails."We did some research in the United States where someone told us they drank a Rusty Margarita and we didn't know what that was. Rather than putting triple sec in, they put Drambuie into it and we thought that was brilliant."We are trying to show people that things like a Rusty Nail – a Drambuie and ginger beer – can be an alternative to a gin and tonic. The strategy is very much to recruit a new generation of drinkers without alienating our existing drinkers."We have identified our target at a 25 to 48-year-old professional and it is about saying Drambuie is an interesting deep complex drink and we are pretty sure anyone can find a way to enjoy drinking it."There is a real trend in the US at the moment for flavoured whiskies and they are doing phenomenal sales. "So all of a sudden there is the start of a serious whisky liqueur category which is good for us as it will bring consumers back into that taste profile and drinking dark spirits."On the day we meet in Edinburgh, Mr Kennedy is feeling the effects of the 128-mile Dragon Ride cycle race he completed in Wales the previous day.It is part of the training programme he is doing ahead of doing a Tour de France mountain stage with four summits later this summer. He also regularly does the 30-mile round trip between his home in London and Drambuie's office there.Having been a keen rugby player then a rower, runner and triathlon participant, the 42-year-old doesn't appear to lack for stamina, which probably stands him in good stead as he travels around the globe totting up air miles promoting Drambuie.He said: "I travel probably every other week and spending time in those markets is an important part of what I do. I'm off to Chile and Brazil soon, I was in India [recently] and was over in Australia and New Zealand in March."Even with southern European sales, particularly in Greece, dropping dramatically, the company expects to report growth in turnover and profit for the financial year to the end of this month.Further growth in Latin America, India and Vietnam are all targets in the coming year.He said: "If you look at the results when they come out, then there is a lot of good stuff going on, but southern Europe is a headache."So it is about looking at where are the markets we can genuinely get growth out of and ploughing our resources into that. "The UK and US are what we would call our must-win markets. "We could have 20 to 30 countries on our growth markets list but we need to keep it relatively tight and focused."We are effectively quite a small business so we don't want to spread ourselves too thinly. "It is really important to get the right distributor in place and have that partner who can build Drambuie and it takes time to do that." In the US, a new promotional campaign is targeting six cities – New York, Boston, Denver, Austin, Portland and San Francisco – in a bid to bolster the recent growth seen there. Closer to home, Drambuie is increasing its marketing spending in Scotland, which makes up 25% of its UK sales. A Scottish commercial brand ambassador has recently been hired, while the drink was heavily promoted at the recent RockNess festival. Television advertising is planned for around Christmas and there are also partnerships with the Grosvenor cinema in Glasgow and the G1 Group of bars and nightclubs.Although Kennedy is focused on growth and the Scotch whisky industry is booming at the moment, he is not worried there will be a shortage of the spirit needed to make Drambuie. He said: "We buy all our whisky and then age it ourselves in barrels. "We have got quite a collection so have no immediate issues regarding capacity."If the whisky market continues to grow as it does, then perhaps it would be more difficult or expensive to get our hands on the spirit. "But we work very closely with Morrison Bowmore and have a good relationship."However, even the chief executive doesn't get to know the secret elixir herb blend recipe – reputed to date back to 1745 and Bonnie Prince Charlie – which gives Drambuie its unique taste. He said: "It used to be kept by the family and we have brought it in-house."Our operations director and master blender have it and have signed a confidentiality pact."The terms of that are such that even if I asked them, they couldn't tell me."MICHAEL Kennedy was brought up in Larne, Northern Ireland and studied business and French at Stirling University with part of the course involving a year at the Strasbourg School of Management.On graduation in 1993, he joined the Marks and Spencer trainee programme which initially involved spells in stores in Northern Ireland and Falkirk. He was part of the team which opened food stores in Paris for the high street giant before spending two years as a cake buyer.In 2000, he moved to confectioner Mars as a national sales manager then joined Drambuie two years later as regional director for southern Europe. Since then, he has been regional director for Latin America and head of global travel retail. In January 2011, he was promoted to managing director as part of a year-long handover process with then-chief executive Phil Parnell, who wanted to scale back his own activities.Following Mr Parnell's death in June 2011, Mr Kennedy was asked to take over the chief executive role a few months earlier than planned.He lives in London with his wife and three children. He coaches athletics and rugby and is also a keen cyclist.

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

Drambuie chief keen to cash in on Mad Men's 1960s glamour

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED