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CSULB-ads-mktg-group · 11-11-2009, 12:07 AM

Hi we are a group from a CSULB marketing advertising class.
We found out we have to do an advertising campaign on a product category and brand of our choice and so being the college students that we are we thought hey why not pick the "badass" of all alcohol, ABSINTHE!

This is a huge project and roughly makes up a 1/3 of our grade. And so after much research and group discussions on this project we need some help to complete our assignment.

this is the current layout of our project:

1. marketing objectives
2. situation analysis
3. key strategic decisions:
a. advertising objectives
b. advertising strategies
c. target audience
d. product image and personality
4. creative plan
5. media plan

If anyone has any experience with marketing or advertising and would like to give us some counseling, the help would be more than welcome Smile

... We currently have about 7 pages written up for these 5 sections listed above and we would love to have anybody give us feed back on our work. We could write about 3 pages just talking about the setup and plans for this project so if you have any questions please ask.

Also the brand we have chosen is La Fee Parisienne. It wasn't until after we started the project that we found out this brand had received some not so good reviews. But we like a challenge so we are probably going to stick through with it Smile

. also we are only focusing on the US market.

if anyone knows of any resources to help us with our project, those would also be greatly appreciated.

below are some specific questions we need some help with:

1. We currently know Bevmo, costco and drink up Ny sells absinthe. are there any other retailer/distributors?

2. what should be our target market?

3. what is the market share of absinthe in comparison to other spirits? to all of alcohol?

4. what is the market share of La Fee in comparison to other Absinthes?

5. What media (print, tv, internet etc.) would be most effective in advertising La fee absinthe?

thank you all for any input!,
csulb mktg group

please check out the attachment to see our current work Smile

Alan · 11-11-2009, 02:29 AM

This looks fun; since this is a big task, I've mainly looked at your initial questions. Some of my answers add further questions. Please think about these in your response ..

(11-11-2009 12:07 AM)CSULB-ads-mktg-group Wrote: 1. We currently know Bevmo, costco and drink up Ny sells absinthe. are there any other retailer/distributors?

La Fée have done well to get Southern to distribute them in California. This gives them access to some distribution. However the brand may be a lower priority for Southern behind Lucid, Absente, Pernod etc. Comments?

There are hundreds of other retailers: here are some important ones in California:

Wally's
Hi-Time
K & L
Jug Shop
Mission Liquor

Bevmo and Costco provide an interesting start for La Fée: are they in many of the other shops listed? Your document mentions price quite often, so La Fée need to have on-premise distribution where consumers can try La Fée without too much price risk. Do they have on-premise distribution?

(11-11-2009 12:07 AM)CSULB-ads-mktg-group Wrote: 2. what should be our target market?

Have a look at the La Fée NV site; it seems that they are also going to focus on this in CA. There have been some press releases on that this week which will help you see who they are aiming that at.

Do you think that there are any issues with them selling both La Fée Parisienne and La Fée NV in CA?

I think you need to look at whichever absinthes you see as significant in CA, and analyse La Fée against them. Lucid, Le Tourment Vert, Kubler etc target specific groups. Where are the gaps in the market, and does La Fée fit into those gaps?

(11-11-2009 12:07 AM)CSULB-ads-mktg-group Wrote: 3. what is the market share of absinthe in comparison to other spirits? to all of alcohol?

The US spirits market is approaching 200 million cases (of 12 x 750 ml bottles). Absinthe is well under 1 million bottles.

(11-11-2009 12:07 AM)CSULB-ads-mktg-group Wrote: 4. what is the market share of La Fee in comparison to other Absinthes?

Well under 5% in the USA.

(11-11-2009 12:07 AM)CSULB-ads-mktg-group Wrote: 5. What media (print, tv, internet etc.) would be most effective in advertising La fee absinthe?

Whatever materials they can get into bars and stores.
PR.
Sampling.

My key point reverts to a big gap in your document. What is La Fée's selling proposition in the US market. You don't seem to have an answer for this. Without that, you are in trouble.

Looking forward to your response!

***Absinthe is Benjamin*** · 11-11-2009, 02:42 AM

Ok, I'd probably just be getting in the way of Alan's marketing expertise here, but I wanted to wish you folks the best of luck. And a friendly reminder that absinthe is only "badass" to the extent that it is a really tasty drink. Wink

Alan · 11-11-2009, 02:49 AM

Ben ... and anyone else:

Feel 100% free to add your comments. Obviously you can say things that, as a competitor, I can't say ..

Also I'd love to learn from others here. I certainly don't have all the answers!

homebrewnorcal · (This post was last modified: 11-11-2009 03:37 AM by homebrewnorcal.)

haha you are lucky I am a marketing minor up at chiiiiii-cooooo and know what its like...you kids know a guy named Andy from tke (my bro)?...anyway you have the entire foreign market that has been selling to the US way before it was legal...I'm not sure on the numbers but I'm sure the foreign market share is still up there...a lot of bars are beginning to carry absinthe: la salles in Chico, legends in Morgan hill, crush in Chico...liqour stores too (when it first started my local corner store was telling me only X amount of establishments could carry it in the area)...I'm sure SF and LA have a lot too...your target market for that brand might be Alcohol consumers 21+ who are new to the concept of absinthe and have a low information about the product or who simply don't care about information...ie people who drink for the feeling or hype...yahoo finance absinthe market share and maybe check to see if la fees website has a stake or shareholders section...Being a psychology major advertising related mental processes are what I plan to study in graduate school...there are few routes in what you want to accomplish with advertising...you get neurotransmitter dopamine firing on the receptors on the motivation/addiction pathway (nucleus accumbens) best way to do this is the experience of something new and different...then for memory you have emotional event which works with your limbic system to help you remember, scent also goes straight to the limbic system which is awesome! (I want to market labels that smell or are scratch and sniff : ) i know I'm a lil off my rocker)...then you have the concept of people who exert mental effort which allows a person to better remembered something (such as covering the parts of some letters in the title with a logo)... then you have to positively reinforce a behavior because there will be an increase in that behavior (thanking football fans for drinking bud during the super bowl)...then you have classical conditioning like pairing the five dollar foot long song with seeing a subway logo....that is mainly what effective advertising is...but for your class you have a low involvement purchase and word of mouth is dismissed because of bad reviews...I might go with sponsoring events like local festivals, TV ads that exploit some of the things I mentioned previously...haven't seen an ad on tv out here for absinthe might mention that...once you are the first to advertise no one else can be the first...I'm sure if some of the people would stop bickering they may help you...I've done 2 market analysis, 1 industry analysis, currently doing a value proposition and another retail industry analysis for supermarkets (we have to work with a sponsor/consultant out of the Midwest...pretty intense)....anyway best of luck! let us know how you all do...I'll read what you have when I find some time....

o and get a better team name. maybe the "silver spoons" and get an absinthe spoon for your intro pp

Alan: Market share is expressed in percent just an FYI ...ex absinthe sales/ Alcohol sales or absinthe sales/ spirit sales and a target market is who will be that key 20% of customers that buys 80% of the product.

Alan · 11-11-2009, 04:02 AM

By the way, Is the project all US, or just CA?

Pat, I know I didn't give a market share figure. I let the students work out that figure. Less than 1 million as a % of getting on for 2400 million bottles ... Very very small.

***Absinthe is Benjamin*** · 11-11-2009, 04:06 AM

I think you mentioned it in your e-mail (forgive my poor memory), but when is this project due?

Alan · 11-11-2009, 04:10 AM

And are you really set on doing La Fée? You'd get a lot more input for some other brands.

You'd get enormous input from me if you changed to doing La Clandestine! Although I might want to take it more private!

homebrewnorcal · 11-11-2009, 04:20 AM

O i read that wrong my bad alan

CSULB-ads-mktg-group · 11-11-2009, 04:21 AM

WOW thank you all for the quick replies!
We will try to reply to you all within the next few days

-mktg group

homebrewnorcal · (This post was last modified: 11-11-2009 04:30 AM by homebrewnorcal.)

If you can change to Alan's comp do it! I have given up getting any info out of that guy...haha (then relay all his tricks to me Smile

joking)

in the post they said just the US market. How do you know my real name? ha I thought only Ben knew who I was.

Alan · 11-11-2009, 04:34 AM

Ben called you Pat once in a reply to one of your postings. So I just guessed that it was .... Pat. Plus you have a certain way of expressing yourself which is quite recognisable!

Here's the NV release for the students:

http://www.drinks-business-review.com/ne...rte_091109

CSULB-ads-mktg-group · (This post was last modified: 11-11-2009 05:23 AM by CSULB-ads-mktg-group.)

(11-11-2009 02:29 AM)Alan Wrote: This looks fun; since this is a big task, I've mainly looked at your initial questions. Some of my answers add further questions. Please think about these in your response ..

(11-11-2009 12:07 AM)CSULB-ads-mktg-group Wrote: 1. We currently know Bevmo, costco and drink up Ny sells absinthe. are there any other retailer/distributors?
La Fée have done well to get Southern to distribute them in California. This gives them access to some distribution. However the brand may be a lower priority for Southern behind Lucid, Absente, Pernod etc. Comments?

There are hundreds of other retailers: here are some important ones in California:

Wally's
Hi-Time
K & L
Jug Shop
Mission Liquor

Bevmo and Costco provide an interesting start for La Fée: are they in many of the other shops listed? Your document mentions price quite often, so La Fée need to have on-premise distribution where consumers can try La Fée without too much price risk. Do they have on-premise distribution?

(11-11-2009 12:07 AM)CSULB-ads-mktg-group Wrote: 2. what should be our target market?
Have a look at the La Fée NV site; it seems that they are also going to focus on this in CA. There have been some press releases on that this week which will help you see who they are aiming that at.

Do you think that there are any issues with them selling both La Fée Parisienne and La Fée NV in CA?

I think you need to look at whichever absinthes you see as significant in CA, and analyse La Fée against them. Lucid, Le Tourment Vert, Kubler etc target specific groups. Where are the gaps in the market, and does La Fée fit into those gaps?

(11-11-2009 12:07 AM)CSULB-ads-mktg-group Wrote: 3. what is the market share of absinthe in comparison to other spirits? to all of alcohol?
The US spirits market is approaching 200 million cases (of 12 x 750 ml bottles). Absinthe is well under 1 million bottles.

(11-11-2009 12:07 AM)CSULB-ads-mktg-group Wrote: 4. what is the market share of La Fee in comparison to other Absinthes?
Well under 5% in the USA.

(11-11-2009 12:07 AM)CSULB-ads-mktg-group Wrote: 5. What media (print, tv, internet etc.) would be most effective in advertising La fee absinthe?
Whatever materials they can get into bars and stores.
PR.
Sampling.

My key point reverts to a big gap in your document. What is La Fée's selling proposition in the US market. You don't seem to have an answer for this. Without that, you are in trouble.

Looking forward to your response!

thank you Alan for your post!
your information is going to be very useful

1. so to the first question about retailer/distributors:
do you know of a way to find out what retailers southern distributes to?
we will check out the retailers you mentioned and see if they carry la fee.
and great point about tastings at bevmo and costco! that could be very beneficial to a brand. do you know if brands have any control over this, such as paying the company to have the tasteing?
this is what you mean by "on premise distribution" correct? i know they also sell their products through their website.

2. target market:
We completely agree with you on this. a brands success is dependent on its position in the market... question is where is la fee?
And you think one of the markets is CA. which seems to be true. We didnt see that press release so we will be sure to check that out. now the question is, is this the correct market they should be going after? We have no clue. we know its a very large market that is known for being more liberal therfore being more likely to try absinthe?... would you agree with that? Do you know if other brands of absinthe our focusing on the CA market?

3. us spirit market share and 4. absinthe market share:
perfect that really helps to give us a picture of whats going on. we haven't been able to find anything on this. Do you know of any sources where we could cite this from? and find out more information?

5.media:
pr and sampling seems like a good place to focus because of absinthe's unfamiliarity to the US market.

6. "My key point reverts to a big gap in your document. What is La Fée's selling proposition in the US market. You don't seem to have an answer for this. Without that, you are in trouble."

Thank you, you bring up a really good point. This is something we definitely need to focus on more. we'll have to talk this over and report back to you on this. As of now we were discussing that La fee could stand out pretty easily by having some sort of mass advertising campaign, since none of us have seen any other brand do something like this. do you know of any? This of course hasn't happened yet because of funding, but according to our professor "we have unlimited funding." this of course should not be our only advantage and position compared to other brands. so if you or anyone has any suggestions we are listening Smile

.

thank you very much for your post Alan. your a group life saver!

(11-11-2009 04:06 AM)Absinthe Ben Wrote: I think you mentioned it in your e-mail (forgive my poor memory), but when is this project due?

the project is either due on November 19th, December 3rd or even possibly December 10th.

We will know for sure this Thursday. so everyone cross your fingers Smile

Caravano · (This post was last modified: 11-11-2009 05:32 AM by Caravano.)

La Fee Parisienne - thought it was ok
You could market it better if it was better.
Think that's how it work's round these forums.
Maybe you need to work on selling me better, maybe a free kitten with a bottle or something.
Hell, what do I know. I think if you want a really good bottle of absinthe you just have to make it yourself.

Alan · (This post was last modified: 11-11-2009 06:04 AM by Alan.)

(11-11-2009 05:20 AM)CSULB-ads-mktg-group Wrote: 1. so to the first question about retailer/distributors:
do you know of a way to find out what retailers southern distributes to?
we will check out the retailers you mentioned and see if they carry la fee.
and great point about tastings at bevmo and costco! that could be very beneficial to a brand. do you know if brands have any control over this, such as paying the company to have the tasteing?
this is what you mean by "on premise distribution" correct? i know they also sell their products through their website.

Southern distributes to everyone (or as near as makes no difference).

By on-premise, I mean outlets where you buy liquor to drink it on the premises. Bars, restaurants, etc. Off-premise = outlets where you buy to drink it away from where you buy, i.e. shops. I'd do tastings in the right bars, and not off-premise. In the right bars, you can target the right kind of people and make sure it is tasted in the right way with the style/atmosphere that the brand wants to portray.

The brand pays for this ... and for everything else!

Sales through their website are largely irrelevant to this exercise. Very small sales in comparison and getting a lot smaller. Why buy abroad when you can buy from DUNY and Bevmo for less?

(11-11-2009 05:20 AM)CSULB-ads-mktg-group Wrote: 2. target market:
We completely agree with you on this. a brands success is dependent on its position in the market... question is where is la fee?
And you think one of the markets is CA. which seems to be true. We didnt see that press release so we will be sure to check that out. now the question is, is this the correct market they should be going after? We have no clue. we know its a very large market that is known for being more liberal therfore being more likely to try absinthe?... would you agree with that? Do you know if other brands of absinthe our focusing on the CA market?

By target market, I assumed you meant what sort of people, age, sex, socio-economic group as well as location. You need to think about all that.

Everyone wants to be in CA; almost everyone focuses on it. As for many trendy drinks, CA and NY are key. Expensive to compete in these markets, but you have the unrealistic position of unlimited money, so go for it ... and everywhere else!

(11-11-2009 05:20 AM)CSULB-ads-mktg-group Wrote: 3. us spirit market share and 4. absinthe market share:
perfect that really helps to give us a picture of whats going on. we haven't been able to find anything on this. Do you know of any sources where we could cite this from? and find out more information?

Sorry, I can't release any more data. Maybe you can persuade Nielsen to give you some free topline data. Other than that, there's very little information about the US absinthe market and most of it is wrong!

(11-11-2009 05:20 AM)CSULB-ads-mktg-group Wrote: "My key point reverts to a big gap in your document. What is La Fée's selling proposition in the US market. You don't seem to have an answer for this. Without that, you are in trouble."

Thank you, you bring up a really good point. This is something we definitely need to focus on more. we'll have to talk this over and report back to you on this. As of now we were discussing that La fee could stand out pretty easily by having some sort of mass advertising campaign, since none of us have seen any other brand do something like this. do you know of any? This of course hasn't happened yet because of funding, but according to our professor "we have unlimited funding." this of course should not be our only advantage and position compared to other brands. so if you or anyone has any suggestions we are listening .

The heaviest spenders in the category are probably Le Tourment Vert and Lucid. As far as I know, they don't use mainstream advertising: just PR, with a focus on lifestyle, opinion-formers etc. Plus support for big national groups such as Hard Rock and Virgin.

Frankly, I would be careful about mainstream advertising. It would be a good way to get absinthe banned again! Even if you do have unlimited money, it would be a waste.

You also need to consider what is accepted good practice. See:

http://www.discus.org/

(11-11-2009 05:28 AM)Caravano Wrote: maybe a free kitten with a bottle or something.

Did you really mean a free kitten or are you just being polite?

***speedle*** · 11-11-2009, 01:02 PM

A free kitten with a bottle is certainly more humane the the free kitten in the bottle approach. Wink

Guys (and gals), I think this is a really cool project you're doing, and Alan seems to really have given you a good start here!

homebrewnorcal · 11-11-2009, 01:09 PM

Caravano: if you are a good enough marketer you could peddle pieces of crap as if it was gold...just look at budwipers run at it.

Alan: Why would mainstream get absinthe banned? I realize absinthe is nascent at the moment but, I run into people every weekend that still believe it is illegal! PR at bars is fine but in a bar it costs $5.50-$10 for a single and the target market at those places do not want to spend money on it in that setting and if they do, they regret it. A new thing around here for tobacco, smoke shops, and nrg drinks is party sponsorship! If you are having a gathering of 100+ people sometimes 20,000 like on labor day here. They will buy you a keg (sometimes even a DJ) give you some samples, and send you on your way. In return you just put banners up and take pictures of people using the product. Then some companies have you do a write up. Basically exploiting peer power.

Brian Robinson · (This post was last modified: 11-11-2009 01:35 PM by Brian Robinson.)

To butt in on the question you asked to Alan, part of their marketing plan involves advertising absinthe as a 'new high' based on thujone. Given the fact that the TTB is watching absinthe advertising like a hawk, that type of spin would be a good way to go down the road of banning it again.

CSLB, I saw you did a bit of a price comparison on your worksheet. You might want to check out the absinthe cost comparison that I put together at the WS. We update the prices based on currency fluctuations a couple of times a year. It was last done around 6 months ago, I think. I plan on updating it again over the holiday.

Caravano · 11-11-2009, 02:05 PM

(11-11-2009 01:09 PM)homebrewnorcal Wrote: Caravano: if you are a good enough marketer you could peddle pieces of crap as if it was gold...just look at budwipers run at it.

Yes, you do get what I was saying, even though it was figuratively. I thought you missed it.

Speedle: I drink PBR because there is a free kitten in every 12 pack. Refer to the avatar. Marketing at its finest. Who cares how it taste, it gets you drunk and kittens are cute.

Tits · 11-11-2009, 02:56 PM

Ban it and come bck to the regular schedule.

homebrewnorcal · 11-11-2009, 03:29 PM

but US absinthe can only have less then 10mg/l so why are we worried?...I think if they did it right they could make a lot of money without mentioning it...if they did advertise it as something it is not their ass would be called out and probably be sued.

CSULB-ads-mktg-group · 11-12-2009, 01:40 AM

(11-11-2009 04:02 AM)Alan Wrote: By the way, Is the project all US, or just CA?

Pat, I know I didn't give a market share figure. I let the students work out that figure. Less than 1 million as a % of getting on for 2400 million bottles ... Very very small.

this project is for all of the US

and sorry but we are a little confused about this : "Less than 1 million as a % of getting on for 2400 million bottles"...
are you saying the us spirit market is roughly 1 million and absinthe is around 2400 bottles? making it what % 0.00024 of the market?

thanks,
csulb group