Diageo will be dropping multi-buy promotions this Christmas, after last year's two-for-£25 deal resulted in a 31.2% drop in value during the period for its star Christmas brand, Baileys.

Instead, as part of its £25m Christmas investment, the company will run a single price-mark promotion across its four key Christmas brands.

Smirnoff, Gordon's, Bell's and Baileys will all be available in price-marked packs for the first time, selling at £9.99 for a 70cl bottle.

"Much of the increased volume in the spirits category at Christmas is driven by light spirits buyers," said David Smith, sales director. "Sixty-two per cent of people who only buy spirits once a year do so at Christmas and multi-buy offers alienate them. This year is about getting a single price-point right across the spirits sector to make it accessible for consumers, even light drinkers."

The company says it is confident Baileys will perform well this year, having broken the cycle of expectation for deep-discounting last year. It is putting £6m behind the brand for the festive period, launching a "Shake and Serve" campaign that encourages consumers to shake the cream liqueur over ice before serving.

A new TV ad will launch at the end of October and a sampling campaign targeting 700,000 consumers will run during the period.

There is also a £1m campaign for Bell's called 'Rich with Flavour, Full of Life', planned for the season, as well as a £3.5m spend for Smirnoff Red and Smirnoff Black, to include an on-pack competition giving shoppers the chance to win a holiday to the Maldives.

Gordon's Gin is spending £4m over Christmas as part of a year-long campaign with chef Gordon Ramsay, which launched this week.

There are also new gift cartons for the four brands and a total of 20 gift SKUs from the supplier this year.

Aside from spirits, Diageo will also be ramping up its activity for Guinness, which will include new TV advertising in November.

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