Johnnie Walker free essay sample

The inspiring story of Johnnie Walker – A brand was born The global icon in the beverages business was born in 1819 in a grocery store. Yes, in a grocery store. In the city of Kilmarnock, Scotland, the famous John â€Å"Johnnie† Walker decided to leave the family business and follow his entrepreneurial spirit. He became a grocer, trading various goods, especially tea. The interesting fact here is that at this time he was just 14 years old boy. His ability to blend tea leaves gave him the idea of blending grain and malt whiskies. With his eager he managed to create a smoother drink with high quality. After his death, his son Alexander Walker and his grandson Alexander Walker II, they were responsible for the future of the beverage. They were largely responsible have established the Scotch as a famous brand. 1. 2. History of company’s development and marketing strategies The marketing progress of the company starts in 1909, when Walker brothers decided to hire a popular cartoonist Tom Browne to create a logo – the Striding Man, which is the main figure in the all Johnnie Walker advertisement campaigns. The slogan â€Å"Keep Walking† was later incorporated to accompany the Striding Man, and is undeniably one of the most memorable world-wide advertising campaigns today. Johnnie Walker ® is growing very fast. In 1909 they decide to start producing more and more products. They renamed their whiskies in deference to their customers’ habit of identifying them by their coloured labels – Johnnie Walker ® Red Label ® and Johnnie Walker ® Black Label are born. That is the main reason we don’t usually say Johnnie Walker. The Johnnie Walker ® Gold Label ® was born in 1920 to celebrate 100 years of the Walkers’ business. Lately, a â€Å"whiskey for the waves† was introduced by Sir Alexander Walker. It was called â€Å"Swing† and it was a gold-coloured whiskey. Each â€Å"label† aims to attract a group of customers, depending on their class, differentiating the quality and the price of the beverage. 3 1. 3. Mission and aims Johnnie Walker is one of the biggest companies with a traditional spirit. Their mission is to keep the quality of the beverage, because of their great success over the years. The marketing plan of the company is to keep their current consumers and create a favorable environment to its potential customers. We can say that the slogan of the company – â€Å"Keep Walking† – is one of the most respected marketing tagline nowadays. In my opinion, when something is positive for the company and it is pulling the sales up, it should not be changed. Over the years, the company had more than great success with this tagline. As I mentioned, Johnnie Walker is classic market leader, and for sure this is because of the maintaining the style of the company, which is adored by millions of people all over the world. With no doubt, Johnnie Walker is the most preferred whiskey in the United Kingdom, especially in Scotland, which is its motherland. But how does the political, economic, social and technological factors affect the growth of the company? Let’s start with the PEST analysis of the beverage. 2. 1. Political factors The United Kingdom government decided to increase the revenue taxes, because a range of studies have found that increasing the price of alcohol can reduce road accidents and fatalities; workplace injuries; deaths from cirrhosis of the liver; various kinds of violent crime, including assaults, rapes, robberies and child abuse. The heavy tax over this kind of beverage is directly affecting its price, which somehow is affecting the consumption of the product. Although for reasons of raising tax revenue the UK is one of the high alcohol tax countries of Europe. Keep walking†¦ 4 However, the higher taxes and the increase of prices of alcohol do not affect so much Johnnie Walker, because the potential customers of these class products are mostly connoisseurs. They won’t change their taste only because of a change in the taxes. 2. 2. Economic factors We have to keep in mind that the inflation rate in the United Kingdom for the last few years has jumped steadily. The Johnnie Walker’s company is producing only luxury beverages. Some of the consumers may prefer to drink a cheaper whiskey, rather than buying the expensive one. However, this will not affect much on the profits of the company, because as we said – Johnnie Walker’s is company with traditional spirit, the customers are connoisseurs. Their strategy is helping to keep their regular customers. In other words – the price change would affect the heavy drinkers, which is not a leading % of the Walkers’ consumers. There is ample evidence that at the population level, alcohol consumption is responsive to price†¦many studies have concluded that heavier drinkers are more responsive to price than non-heavy drinkers. ’ Johnnie Walker is founded in the United Kingdom – Scotland, and it is still developed in Scotland. The population of the United Kingdom will definitely prefer to drink their own production, rather than some others, for example Jack Daniels, which is American brand. 2. 3. Social and Cultural Factors The population of the Britain would prefer drinking whiskey rather than other alcoholic drinks. It is typical for their leisure interests. The Johnnie Walker’s brand is highly respectable brand in Scotland and the other members of the United Kingdom. The population is relying on the quality of the beverage, and Walkers’ products are proven on the market. In some cases, whiskey is preferred for the health improvement, especially a quality one, like Johnnie Walker. The minimum age for the purchase of alcohol is 18. Mostly, the whiskey consummators are over 22 years old. Aged scotch whiskey is great to drink and can even be appreciated by those who are not much familiar with it. Technological Factors The technology can be helpful for the company in few ways – the transportation all over the world, the speed of bottling, and the improvement for the fermentation process. 5 However the technology cannot help for the manufacturing of the beverage as a drink or improving its quality. The technology didn’t yet reach a level to reduce the time needed for the whiskey’s aging. Maybe, because of some technological innovation, in a long-run period of time, the cost of the production can be reduced. I think that the quality of the beverage is good enough and cannot be improved. The only improvement would be keeping its great quality over the years. 2. 5. Natural Factors The quality of the whiskey depends highly on the natural factors. The quality of the water is really important factor when we talk about this kind of beverage. The difference in taste between the whiskies coming from various distilleries is partly due to the quality of the water used for the production. The water of Scotland is famous for its great purity. This is one of the greatest advantages of Johnnie Walker’s production. Important role also takes the barley. The quality of the barley has a great influence on the quality of the end product. Over the years, Johnnie Walker had developed great strategies for selecting the barley for the production. The climate is important in two ways – the maturation process and the conditions for drinking the beverage. Usually, alcohol is consumed in the cold climate countries – such as United Kingdom. This definitely increases the consumption. The success of the company and its image established is because of their great marketing and management strategies. 3. 1. Analysis of the customers Johnnie Walker is the favorite alcoholic drink to many British and people all over the world. It is luxury beverage and the consumers are real connoisseurs. When we talk about the United Kingdom, the Johnnie Walker is holing a big percentage of the customers, and there is a huge potential for new customers. Basically, such a beverage is consumed by people over 18 years old. Many businessmen rely on Johnnie Walker, which makes them classical customers. 6 3. 2. Analysis of the Employees â€Å"One of the world’s largest manufacturer of drinks, Diageo, announced July 1 the closure of the Johnnie Walker whisky bottling plant in Kilmarnock and distillery at Port Dundas, Glasgow in Scotland. † This is a quote from a famous newspaper. Diageo is currently holding the Johnnie Walker Company, which means that there will be a change in the staff, which may affect the product’s quality somehow. 3. 3. Analysis of the Competitors There are a lot of competitors while we talk about beverages, but malt whiskies are all different, and each has its own unique flavour profile. Johnnie Walker, as I said previously, is paying attention on its long history.