CHAPTER 7: Marketing and Brand Development

Management theory has talked of the ‘four Ps’ of marketing since 1960: product, price, promotion and place. As will hopefully become clear in this chapter, each of these Ps embraces a series of more or less loosely related disciplines with a multitude of specialist tasks and sub-tasks. The summary of the four Ps is expressed in the brand positioning statement, which attempts to capture the values, features and benefits of the brand which, in theory, is used to guide all proposed marketing activity. However, in practice, many brands exhibit highly variable regional behaviour and cultural factors. Other marketing tools include visitor centres for trade, media and consumer visitors and use of internet and social media with their potentially enormous impact. Practitioners should note, however, that the advertising and promotion of all forms of beverage alcohol is one of the most strictly regulated forms of marketing, and responsible marketing requires restraint and maturity from all parties.