Warning: This article may make you thirsty.
It’s no secret Aussies love their booze and while liqueur may not be consumed as widely as beer, wine or spirits, it is still an important category within the alcohol beverage market.
According to the latest findings from Roy Morgan Research, 8% of Australian adults, or 1.5 million people, drink at least one liqueur in any given four weeks, with Baileys and Kahlúa topping the list of the most popular brands.
In the 12 months to March 2016, 574,000 Australians aged 18+ enjoyed at least one Baileys – more than three times the number that drank the second-most popular liqueur, Kahlúa (165,000).
Jägermeister (123,000) and Midori (121,000) are neck and neck in third and fourth place respectively, with Cointreau (104,000) the nation’s fifth most popular liqueur.
It's interesting to note, the eight brands named in the above chart have not engaged in big TV marketing campaigns in recent years, apart from Jägermeister, who also teamed up with Vice last year. Kahlúa seems to have invested in creating short episodic social content.
Roy Morgan communications director Norman Morris says while the category doesn’t account for a huge slice of the overall alcohol market, it has the potential for growth if brands are strategic.
“Baileys is consumed by nearly the same number of drinkers as the seven other most popular liqueurs combined. But it doesn’t have to be this way: by targeting the right consumers, these brands can gain a larger slice of the pie,” Morris says.
He believes a “gold opportunity” within the liqueur category is the 18-24 and 25-43 year-old age groups as they are much likelier than the average Australian adult to drink cocktails.
While there isn’t a big difference between the number of Australian men (716,000) and women (767,000) who drink liqueurs in any given month, some brands are markedly more popular with one gender than the other.
Brands with a much higher proportion of female drinkers than male include Baileys Irish Cream, Kahlúa, Frangelico and Tia Maria, while liqueurs more popular with men than women include Jägermeister and Sambuca (Galliano).
Perhaps more importantly for liqueur brands, just over three-quarters (76.1%) of Australia’s liqueur-drinkers consume only one brand in an average four-week period, suggesting that once you’ve got them, you’ve got them for life.
So, drinks anyone?
Check out the iconic ads for the eight brands below.
Baileys - 2013
Kahlúa - 2014
Kahlúa - 2016
Jägermeister - 2007
Jägermeister - 2015
Midori - 2008
Cointreau - 2010
Frangelico - 2013
Sambuca - 1991
Tia Maria - 1984
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