SILPORT,
TIGER BEACH AND BALLANTINE’S – A POTENT MIX
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Shanghai:
Silport and Tiger Beach Golf Links were recently part of a unique
promotion as Ballantine’s staged a three-city road show
through China to reach Korean expatriates living on the mainland.
The famed Scotch whisky distiller hosted golf days for about 100
high-end Korean consumers over five days at Beijing Golf Links,
Tiger Beach near Qingdao, as well as at Silport. For each session,
guests were treated to a complimentary round of golf followed
by a “master class” explaining the history behind
Ballantine’s and Scotland’s most famous export. The
evening closed with a tasting session and a meal.
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| Kenneth Lindsay, Ballantine’s brand ambassador,
explained the whisky maker was targeting Korean expats as the
country is a particularly strong franchise for the company. He
said Ballantine’s 17-year-old was the number one premium
brand in Asia Pacific while overall, the brand was number three
worldwide.
“The reason we have come here is that we wanted to target
the Korean expatriate community right here in their own environment
in China,” said the Glasgow-based Scotsman. “We want
to encourage them to keep drinking Ballantine’s and to assure
them that it is the same quality wherever they go.”
Lindsay (pictured) said golf was chosen for the promotion as the
sport was synonymous with status, respect and prestige and nothing
was more prestigious in China than golf.
“If you mix that in with whisky it is a very potent mix,”
he said.
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| “Silport
and (its sister course) Tiger Beach proved to be ideal venues
to host these sessions because if you can talk to your guests
in their own environment when they are enjoying their leisure,
it is much better than dragging them to a big hotel after work
when they may be a bit stressed. A nice
game of golf, a nice dinner and a nice relaxing drink of Ballantine’s
and they will remember it.”
Lindsay said Asia Pacific accounted for only about 10 percent
of its overall business volume but in terms of value, it was closer
to 20 percent and rising.
“In China we have seen a trend where Cognac XO is going
down and Scotch is moving up. Cognac is really dipping and Scotch
is taking over. That’s being driven by Japan, Taiwan and
Korea because these places are really the main drivers of the
Chinese business community.
“Their influence is being felt here with the traveling population
of business people and Chinese are adopting high-class Scotch
as part of their consumption pattern. In China it is usually the
business community who drink Scotch, but globally, young people
in Europe are mixing it with cola, so we are getting a diverse
cross-section of consumers,” he said.
“Our strategy is long term and we are just starting to scratch
the surface.”
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