Matt Wiant - profile of senior vice president, marketing, Allied Domecq PLC, marketing strategy - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

Brandweek, March 26, 2001 by Kenneth Hein

Domecq's spirits marketer proves you can teach an old guard new tricks.

Beefeater Gin's new label, with its younger British palace sentinel, is a symbol of what Allied Domecq is trying to accomplish with all of its classic spirits brands. The old guard's grey beard is now brown, as if he had found the fountain of youth. The man who led him there is Matt Wiant.

Wiant, 38, may be one of the only spirits marketing executives with a degree in chemical and mechanical engineering. While helping to redesign Kraft's Baker's chocolate plant in Delaware, something else struck his fancy--marketing. After graduating with an MBA from Wharton, he returned to the same Baker's chocolate account as brand manager. "I got to see the chocolate from the raw materials all the way to the marketplace," said Wiant, who spent 11 years at Kraft.

Today Wiant is spearheading Allied Domecq's "Making Spirits Fun Again" effort. Looking to reestablish its Beefeater, Canadian Club, Courvoisier and Stolichnaya brands with men and women ages 21-35, Domecq recruited Wiant from Danone, where he had spent four years marketing Dannon Spring Water, and handed him the reigns.

"At one point [Beefeater, Courvoisier, etc.] had been the premier products in their categories, but over the course of 30 years they had slipped in stature," Wiant said. "The challenge was to reinvent the brands."

Indeed, while both Tanqueray and Bombay Sapphire had found their niches in younger crowds, Beefeater had been labeled too conservative. To combat that image, Wiant hatched "Bold Spirit," a $10 million brand overhaul starting with the repackaging effort. Last year, print ads via BBDO, Chicago, portrayed stylish and sexy young men and women boasting, "A Bold Spirit Always Stands Out." The brand also launched radio ads for the first time in the company's 181-year-old history featuring an acid jazz beat and talk of the perfect Beefeater martini.

"We positioned the brand as fun and contemporary," said Wiant. As a result, Beefeater sales, which had been declining since 1975, were suddenly leveling off. "We stabilized the patient and now it's poised for growth," he said.

Next up was Courvoisier. Realizing that the snifter crowd had all but disappeared, Wiant focused on the "successful social urbanites" who had been flocking to Hennessy. In September, the "House of Courvoisier Fall Collection" print campaign, via dRush, New York, hit Vogue, GQ, Essence and the like. Mimicking fashion ads, the colorful creative featured the CV logo subtly intertwined with patterns on boots and dresses. "Like Beefeater, Courvoisier had lost its relevance," said Wiant. "We decided to link the brand with fashion."

The result: "Since last August, we've seen the highest testing with the advertising that we've ever seen in the spirits industry."

As his brands grew in stature, so has Wiant. In two short years, he has been promoted from vp-marketing, classic spirits, to svp-marketing, equity brands USA, and director-North America for wine and spirits. He also serves on AD'S Global Marketing Executive Committee representing North America.

Now Wiant is setting his sights on Canadian Club and Stolichnaya. He has his work cut out for him with CC. "The problem with whiskey is not that it has peaks and valleys; it's that the whole mountain range is sinking," he said.

While whiskey is on fire in Europe and South America, it hasn't been able to shake its macho, good 'ole boy image in the U.S. AD recently has been testing ads positioning CC as a fun, sophisticated drink with its "Can you handle a whisky drinking woman?" campaign. Running in Hartford, Conn., Milwaukee and Tampa, Fla., the campaign shows a smirking woman beating a man in poker. The ads are clearly positioned toward men, although they also appeal to women, said Wiant.

Wiant also expects good things for Kahlua. Domecq's "Anything Goes" campaign in late 1999 showed the brand to be a versatile mixer, and case sales increased for the first time in 10 years. Fueled by the success, the company spun off the Kahlua Drinks-to-Go ready-to-drink line extension, and is testing a non-alcoholic coffee with AriZona.

How did I get this job? One of my old bosses [Paul Block] recruited me from Danone, and the spirits industry seemed like a fun place for a marketer to work.

The best part about my job is...The great team I get to work with.

Favorite brand: Tiffany. Just the icon elicits a strong response. You hand someone a Tiffany's box and they get fired up before they even see what's inside. If we could only do that with all of our brand names we'd be extremely successful.