Assignment Three

GODKNOWS AMENYO

UNIVERSITY OF THE PEOPLE

1. Why haven’t Diageo’s global branding strategies worked in Africa?

Since Diageo PLC is the biggest or largest spirit company in the world they have a

global strong brand developed above this belief, their superiority in the market. Yet, liquor

consumers in Africa cannot pay for the premium the brand carries out. So, Diageo had to re-focus

the marketing strategy, redefine the perceived quality of their products and handle the

understanding that branding is not the same as positioning .

2. What has the company done to change its marketing strategies?

The company has introduced herbs in the spirit formula and at the same time runs a drinking

awareness program and recommends the population that liquor should be used with moderation.

Rural market reach and the brand identity creation are two activities the company solves

by running advertisements on slum radio which transmit the company message in vernacular

languages all above 67 different dialects. To make more effective the brand awareness message,

radios keep changing frequencies constantly. Tracking loyalty and attracting all consumers

moving out of the illegal market (Changa’a, for example), is done by offering tablecloths and

company branded mugs.

Production capacity improved with The Cube implementation. Cubes are shipping

mobile containers used to distill spirits almost 24/7 and ready to be transported anywhere the
company needs it. The distribution channels also got better to locals. Where trucks are to be used,

motorbikes had taken that position. What better way to use an effective channel distribution in the

rural zone.

3.Are there risks to the Diageo brands to the new approach?

Diageo is confronted with a resistance inside the African population. Since half the African

men abstain from drinking. Sales are directed to the poor people, and even tribes members that

never get the product before are buying it now, there is still half the market that needs to get loyal

to the product.

Additional competitors join in the bout for the gold drinking market and brand

associations has shown to be viable. Two examples, one is the ‘Churchill’ drink obtained out of

the mix of Campari red liqueur with local beer, and the other is Jameson’s caskets used to brew

beer shared by Pernod Ricard. As risky as it may turn, Diageo competes again himself when

owning Guinness and other local breweries. Beer brewers had a long tradition in the African

continent.
 REFERENCES

Winer, R. & Shar, R. (2011). Marketing Management (4th ed.). Boston: Prentice Hall

Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (2010). Marketing. In Principles of Marketing).