New Diageo Strategy

MediaTank

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0429/breaking58.htm

Ready to drink cocktails, and milk the well known brands for all they are worth.

rubadub

The drinks are packaged in 70cl cocktail shaker-shaped bottles and will sell for €14.99 each.

doubt it will be worth it, a bottle of vodka is around €20-22, bet these are only around 15-20% if even, so why fork out for a mixer. The smart move would be to have more smirnoff ice type drinks, just ready mixed vodka and lemonade. Not sure if the soft drink companies charge pubs a lot for bottled mixers, I know the pubs charge enough though!. So ready mixed makes more sense for punters. I know guys who get a smirnoff ice and a separate vodka, far cheaper than a double vodka and lemonade.

mayordenis

For christ sake if I was making a cocktail smirnoff is the last thing that would be involved anyway.

Not new tactics really, they are just copping on what their customer base is looking for. They are going after off licence sales in a big way, and the biggest spenders in off licences are usually women. Irish distillers are bringing out a rose version of west coast cooler in a week or two. Beer sales are down and sales of sparkling wine/ cocktail and similar drinks are shooting up.
These new smirnoff yokes will probably fly off the shelves. We are getting them in at work next tuesday. They are bringing out a Bacardi mojito as well.

oblivious

I never really under stood those ready to drink cocktails, is the whole shaking and such not all part of the experiences.

sunnyjim

Never heard a thing about this - RTD cocktails though, not my cup of tea.

Saruman

I am more concerned with the part that says they released a lighter version stout in the US? Guinness already is pretty light compared to more flavoursome stouts...

oblivious

Saruman wrote: »

I am more concerned with the part that says they released a lighter version stout in the US? Guinness already is pretty light compared to more flavoursome stouts...

Funnily enough a draft america stout are commonly 6%+:p

BeerNut

Saruman wrote: »

I am more concerned with the part that says they released a lighter version stout in the US? Guinness already is pretty light compared to more flavoursome stouts...

oblivious wrote: »

Funnily enough a draft america stout are commonly 6%+:p

The new one is 5% ABV, making it stronger than Draught Guinness (which is 4.2% both here and there), but weaker than the Canadian-brewed Guinness Extra which is 6% ABV.

I think the "lighter" epithet refers to the fact that it's CO2 dispense rather than nitro, but they are awfully fond of their marketing bollocks at Diageo:

Diageo wrote:

250 Anniversary Stout uses a unique brewhouse process. This process blends two malt types in a double "brew stream" along with water from the Wicklow Hills

Saruman

CO2 on tap huh? Actually that sounds interesting, must try it next time I am over.

oblivious

Saruman wrote: »

CO2 on tap huh? Actually that sounds interesting, must try it next time I am over.

It does

Trampas

Just bottles of sugar if you ask me

Blisterman

I spoke to a rep from Guinness trying to flog "Guinness Red" here in the UK.
He said that customers like guinness, but think it's too full flavoured, so Guinness Red is to fill this gap in the market.

Personally, I think Guinness is already less flavoursome than nearly every other stout out there. They must be going after the Budweiser/Carling market segment.

I'd like to try a Draught nitro kegged version of Guinness Foreign Extra. Now that's a stout with a lot of flavour.

BeerNut

Blisterman wrote: »

He said that customers like guinness, but think it's too full flavoured, so Guinness Red is to fill this gap in the market.

I shouldn't, but :eek: anyway. Still, they've succeeded: Guinness Red really is astonishingly close to utterly tasteless.

Blisterman wrote: »

They must be going after the Budweiser/Carling market segment.

More like the John Smith's Smooth/Boddington's segment. Why they didn't just stick with Kilkenny I don't know.

Blisterman wrote: »

I'd like to try a Draught nitro kegged version of Guinness Foreign Extra. Now that's a stout with a lot of flavour.

I'd be happy just to see it in the on-trade at all, but they know pubs don't like selling strong beer, which is why you'll never see any draught version.

IrishWhiskeyCha

Saruman wrote: »

I am more concerned with the part that says they released a lighter version stout in the US? Guinness already is pretty light compared to more flavoursome stouts...

Know where your comming from ....

The main problem I find with Guinness is that it is served way too cold. Therefore the the taste is naturally numbed anyway. Ever since they brought in the horrid conception of Cold Flow they have slowly replaced the cold flow taps with regular taps but I reckon they have kept the temp the same.

Guinness is not meant to be drank as cold as they serve it and it really annoys me :mad:

BeerNut

IrishWhiskeyCha wrote: »

Guinness is not meant to be drank as cold as they serve it and it really annoys me :mad:

Eh? You're saying Diageo don't intend their product to be served as cold as they arrange for it to be served? That doesn't make sense. They spend a lot of money ensuring it's served as it is.

You're right about the temperature, though, and the nitrogenation destroys the flavour as well. Pint bottles from the shelf are the only way to go when it comes to Guinness.