Bacardi in big-budget Mojito drive

Bacardi-Martini has allocated a significant share of its £15million marketing war chest for a comprehensive strategy position the rum as the ideal base spirit for Mojitos. The cocktail – which incorporates rum, muddled lime, mint, soda water and sugar – has enjoyed major success in the UK on-trade in recent years, though until now Bacardi has not drawn attention to the fact that it was the spirit used in the original Mojito.

The campaign appears under the strapline ‘Bacardi Mojito, the original Mojito’. It includes a high level of above the line activity, including TV, outdoor, print and London Underground advertising, as well as below the line elements such as PR, experiential projects and extensive on-trade activity.

Targeted at LDA-29 year old drinkers, the campaign is particularly prominent in London, Leeds, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow. It kicked off last week and will run throughout the key summer months until the end of August.

Commenting on the strategy, Bacardi Superior director of marketing, Liam Newton, explains: “The first ever printed recipe for a mojito cocktail uses Bacardi Superior Rum. It is the original rum used in the creation of this enduringly popular Cuban classic.” Explaining the reasoning behind the timing of the current activity, he adds, “the mojito cocktail is now enjoying a renaissance and experiencing major growth across the UK on-trade.”

In order to assist bar operators to take advantage of this consumer trend, Bacardi is facilitating a bartender training program and distributing point of sale kits.

The new TV ad will be a continuation of the ongoing Elixir campaign. The high tech execution features dancing images of human shapes made up of liquid. For the mojito version of the ad, images made up of the various ingredients of the cocktail are seen dancing around to the sound of high energy electronic music, before splashing into a glass to make the perfect mojito. It was first aired on Monday July 7.

Ben Grant 16/07/08