Bacardi is looking to create greater loyalty and rate of sale through its new "Versatility" marketing campaign.
Announced last month, the £15m campaign, which will take in media advertising as well as on-trade marketing programs, is aimed at showing drinkers there is more to Bacardi than simply mixing it with Coke.
Speaking to the Publican, Liam Newton, director of marketing at Bacardi rum said the brand was originally created as a versatile spirit. "To be honest the origins of this campaign go all the way back to 1862 and the founder of the brand Don Facuno Bacardi Masso. He always said it was a versatile spirit that could be mixed with many things."
Bacardi has come up with a range of new serves, including three new "perfect" serves: with ginger, cranberry and soda and lime, and Newton says they have been designed with the pub trade in mind.
"Often you see new campaigns for spirits and mixers and yet the mixer will only be available in a small number of outlets - for example pomegranate is only in five per cent distribution in the on-trade.
"This have been well researched. We know that not all the mixers are in wide distribution - so if a pub doesn't have cranberry or ginger then our sales teams will recommend a different serve, perhaps with orange."
The campaign is particularly targeted at existing Bacardi drinkers and is not trying to move people away from the classic Bacardi and coke serve.. "People will continue to drink Bacardi and coke. I don't see that changing. But what we want is to give those drinkers a reason to order Bacardi more frequently."