With New Campaign, Upscale Launches, Dewar’s Continues To Premiumize

According to Impact Databank, Bacardi-owned Dewar’s ranks second among all blended Scotch brands in the U.S. at 870,000 cases, out of global volume of 3.3 million cases. While the market for Scotch whisky in the U.S. has been challenging lately—with the blended segment down 5% to 5.5 million cases last year—Dewar’s has remained aggressive in courting new drinkers and premiumizing its portfolio, including with a fresh “Here’s to the Story” campaign debuting this fall.

“In a challenging environment for the category and spirits industry, our higher marques continue to grow in the mid-single-digits, supported by our effective brand premiumization efforts targeted at core Scotch whisky drinkers,” Brian Cox, Dewar’s vice president for North America, tells SND.

Intended to highlight the nearly 180-year legacy of Dewar’s, the brand’s new campaign includes cinematic ads featuring master blender Stephanie Macleod and Spanish photographer Eugenio Recuenco, among other creatives. According to Cox, the new push—which is timed to boost the brand from Thanksgiving through the holidays—marks a shift in Dewar’s positioning.

“Like most premium-plus spirit drinkers, Scotch whisky drinkers have traditionally been driven by status and discernment image needs that ‘show you have’ or ‘show you know’,” he explains. “But we believe that this has now evolved to a more experience-driven need to ‘show you are.’ In this context the new campaign shows that good stories are best shared over a glass of Scotch, and that the greatest are shared over a glass of Dewar’s. It sharply repositions Dewar’s in a more super-premium brand world of quiet luxury.”

Along with the new campaign, Dewar’s continues to burnish its luxury credentials with higher-end launches. “This November, we will launch the second installment of the Dewar’s Collector’s Series,” Cox notes, “a 38-year-old Dewar’s Blended Malt finished in ex-PX Sherry casks that once held Royal Brackla.” The 38-year-old bottling retails at $2,200 a 375-ml. and is meant to showcase the flavors of Northern Highland Scotch whiskies, Cox says.

That launch follows Dewar’s 19-year-old whisky finished in first-fill rye casks ($80), which debuted this summer as a limited edition aligned with the brand’s sponsorship of the U.S. Open Golf championship and is now sold out.–Daniel Marsteller

Tagged : Bacardi, Dewar's

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