Bacardi is putting its faith in the Mojito to drive the rum category, launching a summer-long consumer marketing campaign and bar staff training based around the drink.
The £15m investment package capitalises on Bacardi's reputation as the rum that went into the first ever Mojitos created in Cuba.
The above-the-line package will include TV, internet, outdoor, tube and print advertising. It will run nationally with up-weighted outdoor media presence in London, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh and Glasgow. These locations have been chosen in order for the brand to gain maximum exposure with its core audience of 18 to 29 year olds.
More than 3,000 pubs and bars will get point of sale material, including glassware and cocktail kits, that will encourage consumers to drink Bacardi Mojitos throughout July and August. Bacardi is also running in-bar sampling campaigns.
Free-trade and managed outlets are being offered training on how to make the perfect Mojito. This involves ice, fresh mint leaves, caster sugar, soda, fresh lime juice and rum - although it can be adapted to more basic cocktail-making techniques.
The Mojito has become an immensely popular long-drink in the UK, with pub chains including JD Wetherspoon running major initiatives around the rum long drink recently.
Bacardi director of marketing Liam Newton said a "tipping point" has been reached that makes now the right time to invest above the line advertising around the Mojito.
"I feel we are at a point where it's right to open it out to a wider audience," he said. "The training is about making sure pubs have great tasting Mojitos that match the advertising."