K Cider Backs R. Kelly's Summer Tour - spokesperson and marketing campaign - Brief Article

Brandweek, June 25, 2001 by Mike Beirne

On its way to pushing a million cases during K Cider's first year of distribution, Canandaigua will yoke the alternative beverage with pop/RB artist R. Kelly's 29-city summer tour.

The July 1-Aug. 19 tour, also featuring Syleena Johnson and Sunshine Anderson, will be hyped by POP featuring a shirtless Kelly. Copy urges consumers to try the alcoholic beverage "that's as smooth as R. Kelly" and check out kcider.com.

The exclusive Kelly linkup, brokered by Entertainment Marketing, Chicago, aims at grabbing more retail endcap displays in order to grow K Cider distribution beyond its Midwest and Southern strongholds. Such retail oriented efforts comprise the bulk of K's marketing. An ad campaign is still a year or two away.

Radio and on-premise promotions dangle concert tickets, autographed CDs, and meet and greet passes. "Refreshingly Different" signage at concert venues and the K Cider logo on tickets also support.

While competitors entrenched in the beer and wine categories expressed skepticism early on about the sustained growth prospects for alternative drinks, Guinness Bass Import has exceeded projections for its Smirnoff Ice launch.

U.S shipments of the Diageo brand will net 11 million cases through the first six months, more than the full year sales of Beck's, Guinness and Tecate each, per Beer Marketer's Insights.

"Alternative beverages are growing; just look at how Smirnoff and the hard lemonades have exploded in the last year because consumers 21-27 are looking for something more refreshing, said Rob Vlosky, Canandaigua's director of marketing.