Rum makers, manufacturers start embracing promotional items

The rum industry hopes a new marketing strategy that includes promotional drinkware and other branded items will give it the same level of popularity enjoyed by other spirits and the beer and wine industries.

Puerto Rican rum manufacturers and distillers are bringing their liquor from the territory to the mainland to share the beverage’s history and the culture behind it, according to the Advertising Specialty Institute’s website. The Rums of Puerto Rico, a co-branded trade group, recently introduced attendees to their beverages at the Miami Rum Renaissance Festival in April 2015, where marketers guided visitors in tastings of Bacardi, Don Q and other Puerto Rican rum brands.

Historical party
The marketing campaign includes the new slogan “450 Years of Party,” paired with advertising and promotional materials like branded drinkware, napkins, bar mats, recipe books, fliers and gift bags, according to the Advertising Specialty Institute.

Meanwhile, a special series of online videos made for History.com, the History Channel’s website, features reenactments of great moments in history such as the invention of the camera and the light bulb along with the rum used to celebrate afterwards.

“Our marketing strategy is based on three key principles: education, awareness and differentiation,” Pedro Cuellar, director of the Rums of Puerto Rico campaign, told the Advertising Specialty Institute. “The idea of creating an experience and evoking a celebratory environment at our events is strongly linked to the Puerto Rican culture.”

According to Rums of Puerto Rico, the Caribbean territory supplies 70 percent of the rum consumed in the U.S.

Besides Miami, the co-branding marketer plans to take its VIP rum tasting experience and promotional items to other top rum drinking locales in California, Illinois, New York and Texas, according to J. Walter Thompson Worldwide, the advertising agency responsible for the overall campaign.

Just as consumers picture wine with France, scotch with Scotland and vodka with Russia, Rums of Puerto Rico hopes people will pair rum and Puerto Rico, MediaPost reported.

“Ambassadors provided insights and education about the brands, and the tasting bars were fully branded with the Rums of Puerto Rico elements – Rums of Puerto Rico logo, Rum Times poster and Quality Seal,” Cuellar told Advertising Specialty Institute. “Monitor displays also projected the “Rum Times” webisodes and content videos of previous Rums of Puerto Rico activations including those at the Puerto Rico Open, the Miami Art Basel and the Bacardi Triangle. Of course, we also provided music and a party ambience for our guests.”

Competitors not to be outdone
While Puerto Rican rum distillers are on a marketing blitz, other distilleries and distributors are setting out on their own marketing plans, including unusual promotional materials. Kraken Black Spiced Rum, an imported liquor from the Caribbean, according to The Dieline, is also using history to its advantage even if it is mythical in its own marketing campaigns.

Named after the fearsome and legendary giant octopus-like monster that destroyed ships at sea, the distiller is packaging its growler bottles inside boxes that look similar to a treasure chest, Rum Connection reported. Besides a bottle of the spirit, the promotional giveaway includes an 80-page book about the mythical beast, stories of sightings and how Kraken Black Spiced Rum got its name.

The box also includes a branded T-shirt, miniature flashlight that shines the brand’s logo, a DVD about the history of the monster and a fake Kraken tooth wedged into a cork top with the message: “Discovered near St. Lucia.”

As part of its marketing push, the rum manufacturer also offers to consumers different detailed promotional T-shirts decorated with the Kraken’s tentacles, branded pint and shot glasses and hooded sweatshirts, according to Behance.