Diageo has acquired ‘official Eurovision Song Contest partner’ status for its Baileys cream liqueur brand.
The marketing arrangement, for an undisclosed sum, will run for three years, starting with May’s contest, which will be held in the UK. While Baileys will leverage the tie-up to promote serve recommendations “to suit every type of Eurovision Song Contest get-together”, full details of further activity were not confirmed.
This year’s event takes place between 9 and 13 May in Liverpool.
Speaking to Global Drinks Intel recently, the co-founder of cream liqueur producer Kyrö Distillery Co, Miika Lipiäinen, admitted that Baileys casts a long shadow over the entire category: “I don’t see price as a way to compete,” Lipiäinen said. “Baileys is too big and too good at what it does. If you try to match or go under, they’ll kill you.
“What you must do is establish a new position, a new crowd, maybe new occasions when you’d have a cream liqueur in order to compete.”
How brand owners are blowing the dust off cream liqueurs – Category Intel
