Bacardi uses Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant in ‘Send me a Sample’ targeted marketing

Rum brand Bacardi is collaborating with a tech startup on a new marketing initiative that uses voice technology to persuade more consumers to opt for its Añejo Cuatro Dark Rum.

(Photo: Bacardi)

The rum maker has launched an offer with tech startup Send me a Sample, which works on both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, to offer potential customers in Germany a free trial of its Bacardi Añejo Cuatro Dark Rum.

Bacardi will target Alexa and Assistant owners over the age of 18 who have “previously expressed an interest” in Bacardi’s brands with paid-for adverts on Facebook and Instagram, as well as influencer-led posts.

The adverts will show “a call to action,” the company said, explaining how consumers can request a sample.

To receive a free sample, consumers have to register with Send Me A Sample, and ask a voice-assistant to “send me a sample of Bacardi”.

Send me a Sample has already worked with companies such as Coca Cola, Nestle and Benefit Cosmetics. According to the tech firm, when it ran a sampling campaign with Coca Cola, 46% of consumers opted in to receive follow up communications from the brand.

Alexa is Amazon’s voice activated digital assistant

Bacardi is not the first company to trial voice technology in this way. Drinks giant Diageo trialled a campaign with Amazon Alexa Skill in December last year to promote its Scotch whisky brand, Talisker.

Alexa-owners can ask their device to open “Talisker tasting”, and will then be asked to name one of three whiskies under the brand they want to learn more about; Talisker Skye, Talisker Storm or Talisker 10-year-old Single Malt.

Once a whisky is selected, the voice-focused advert takes consumers on an “audio journey that will educate them on how to taste Scotch,” as well as giving more information about the selected spirit.

One in five adults uses mobile voice search at least one time a month, according to Global Web Index.

Will Glynn-Jones, co-founder of Send Me A Sample, said: “Being part of a market first is always extremely rewarding. But to be entrusted with activating such a global household brand’s first ever voice campaign is testament to the service we offer.”

Sales of dark spirits have grown globally in recent years, and rum is no exception. The WSTA’s last Market Report also shows that, in the UK, both the white rum and flavoured & spiced rum categories were worth £137 million over 2018.

White rum is still the most popular rum in the off-trade, but sales of flavoured and spiced rums are growing fast, with almost 10 million bottles sold in the last 12 months – just over half a million bottles fewer than white rum. And in bars and restaurants, sales of golden rum were worth £374 million, an increase of 7% on last year.

“British drinkers have more choice than ever before when it comes to rum,” Miles Beale, chief executive of the Wine and Sprits Trade Association, said on the report’s launch.

“Craft spirits are ‘of the moment’, and an increasing number of artisanal spirits producers are crafting their own interpretations of the spirit- often alongside their gin range.

Dan Buckland, Co-Founder of Drum & Black Rum Co, added that consumers are now choosing brands that “define them as individuals, and the craft rum movement in the UK is showing more people that rum has the potential as the drink of choice.”

Hoping to tap into this trend, Bacardi expanded its flavoured rum portfolio in February with the launch of Bacardi Spiced, infused with ‘natural’ flavours and spices, having already launched the golden Añejo Cuatro and a 10-year old Gran Reserva Diez in Apri last year.