The Famous Grouse, the leading blended Scotch whisky brand in Scotland, has unveiled a £15 million (€23.6m) advertising campaign designed to help it capture a bigger share of the important Christmas market. The six weeks leading up to Christmas historically account for about a third of all Scotch sales.
The sales drive includes television advertising, in-store consumer promotions and, for the first time for some years, outdoor billboard advertising.
The highly successful grouse icon will feature in two prime-time national television adverts, entitled 'A Quiet Night In' and 'A Quality Finish', and will premiere on 25 November.
Meanwhile, over 100 giant Grouse billboards will adorn key strategic sites, mainly in London, under with the festive themes 'Stocking Filler' and 'Gift Wrapped'.
Ken Grier, brands director at Edrington, the group which owns The Famous Grouse, The Macallan and Highland Park, among others, said the record-breaking £15m promotion package highlighted the brand's commitment to maintaining Grouse's market leadership and also to growing the business.
"2002 has been a particularly fulfilling year for The Famous Grouse," said Grier. "This is the 22nd year that we have been Scotland's most popular dram (three glasses are drunk every second in the country) while we have enjoyed several exciting successes in England and Wales, with record sales in the on-premise sector.
"Research shows that our quirky advertising campaigns have increased consumer awareness, well ahead of any other brand of Scotch. Sales are growing at home and overseas, which show that Grouse is the tipple of choice for many consumers."
The Famous Grouse is now exported to over 90 countries and to cope with increasing demand and, in particular, the Christmas rush, around 180 temporary workers have been recruited at the brand's bottling hall at Great Western Road, Glasgow, the largest independent facility of its type in Scotland and which is presently undergoing a £3 million expansion.
The brand has gained international 'hot' brand status for the first time with USA magazine Impact, making Grouse the only Scotch whisky to reach the top 15 spirit brands in the world. The most recent addition to the Grouse family, The Famous Grouse Vintage Malt, also makes its first foray into Safeway supermarkets this Christmas.