Bacardi Limited- Portfolio Management

Bacardi Limited

Bacardi Limited - Brand Portfolio Management

Another World Famous Generic Brand - Bacardi.

But this behemoth enterprise is actually a Brand Portfolio of extreme intelligence and expertly developed and  acquired in order to put itself in the driving seat in almost every market, channel and LSM in the world.

Lets have a look at how effective this company is at managing its portfolio.

Firstly lets have a look at the Portfolio, I won't look at the entire portfolio as there are nearly 50 brands buts lets look at the portfolio by Category. and within each category we will see the magic develop.
Rum, a spirit made from sugar cane, Vodka which is traditionally made from a neutral grain or potatoes, Whisky made from  Barley and Tequila Made from the Agave Cactus.

In the liquor industries these are known as the big 4, the main spirit categories.

Within these Categories Bacardi Limited has its Umbrella Brands and these are hierarchical in terms of priority.

Bacardi Limited has a Master Brand for each of these above mentioned categories. Rum is obviously Owned by Bacardi Rums, Vodka is Grey Goose Vodka, Whisky is Dewar's Blend Scotch Whisky and Tequila is now topped by Patron Tequila

These Master Brands are protected by Flanker Brands, these brands help bolster the category portfolio.
Bacardi Rum is flanked by Castillo Rum, Grey Goose Vodka by Eristoff Vodka, Dewar's Whisky by William Lawson Scotch and Patron Tequila by Cazadores Tequila.

From this shortened list of brands from the Bacardi Limited Portfolio, almost everyone can associate with the Master Brands as they are all prominent brands in South Africa and around the world.

These brands have the reputation of being "Best in Class" and generally are the most aspirational in the portfolio.

Bacardi - The Worlds Most Awarded Rum

Grey Goose Vodka - The World Best Tasting Vodka

Patron Tequila - Ultra Premium Tequila

Dewars Whisky - Fine Blended Double Aged Scotch Whisky

The Flanker brands may be just as well known as the Master Brands but serve a different purpose in the portfolio. These are high quality, price sensitive brands that are often referred to as Entry Level. These are also volume driver brands. Eg. William Lawsons Blended Scotch is one of the biggest selling imported blended scotch whisky in Kenya, it is also one of the most affordable. Thus we see that as a flanker brand it shields market share and position through quality and pricepoint which in turn can be built upon to endorse the Master Brand, Dewars.

Thus we can see that that all the brands resonate within their own category with the target consumer which helps to build brand and enhance the brand reputations within the portfolio. 

So effective is the Brand Portfolio Management that Bacardi Limited is now the largest privately held spirits company in the world which then ranked the at #3 in the Worlds Largest Spirits Companies

But in an age where consumers want to know more about these businesses, they want to know that they are not just mass producers exploiting workers and destroying the environment. What has Bacardi Limited done to set themselves apart and show consumers how accountable and transparent they are?

Let's have a top down look.

Bacardi Limited signed, along with 12 other producers, The Producers Commitment, this outlines a plan whereby producers are committed to tackle the issues surrounding harmful alcohol abuse through education.

Bacardi's Pillars of Corporate Responsibilty :

Bacardi CI

As Bacardi Limited is still a family business with Facundo Bacardi sitting on the Board, Bacardi has taken a move to no longer have employee's but calling each other Primo, Spanish for Cousin. This emphasizes the family nature of the business.

Further to the Producer's Commitment each brand promotes Social Responsibility through Responsible Drinking advocacy which is always on their websites. as well as all advertising having Statutory Warnings eg. Not for Sale to Persons Under The Age of 18

Each brand follows the pillars set out buy the Corporate Brand.

Patron -Ethical Farming & Sustainable Water Management

Bacardi - Environmental Health

These are just 2 examples, that add to value and perceived value by consumers.

The links above also serve to show how transparent the company is as Bacardi Limited does not limit(see what I did there) the amount of information available to the consumer with regards to the companies pillars.

Thus we can now see how Bacardi Limited's effective Portfolio Brand Management and their Transparency and Accountability have built the reputations of both the Corporate Brand and The Product Brands in the eyes of the consumer.

I would recommend that Bacardi Limited within their Product Brands celebrate the achievements they have made with regards to the Pillars of Corporate Responsibility, take the great news to the customer rather than having the customer search for the information. Short Instagram Videos, or Twitter and FB Links to the websites showcasing these achievements could go far in the consumers eyes. In Short a Social Media Corporate Responsibility Marketing Campaign across all their platforms would be great!