William Grant & Sons has launched a new specialist on-premise trade program called Century Club. Century Club is designed to help venues build a strong premium single malt business through a tiered membership reward programme, to capture their share of the +16.2% growth rate of the category.
To gain annual membership outlets must purchase and stock at least 100 years (100 Club) of William Grant & Sons single malt whisky on an annual basis, although the first tier of membership can be claimed at 50 years (50 Club) for some venues. Each tier unlocks new and different rewards in the form of rate-of-sale activation, education and other exclusive benefits.
The purpose for Century Club is driven from an insight that the more single malt whisky a venue stocks, the more single malt whisky it will sell*. It has resulted in solid commercial gains for members in countries like the UK and the US where the programme originated.
“Our goal in launching Century Club is to help deliver volume pull through in member venues and bring commercial benefit to their businesses,” said Oliver Dickson, Head of Marketing at William Grant & Sons.
“We know that even with its strong growth rate, Australia’s share of Scotch malt whisky at 15.3% is under represented compared to similar markets like the UK where it contributes around 24%. We want to support our members in realising this opportunity through range, activation and education to build their Scotch whisky business.”
In 2018 all founding members will also go in the draw to win a $5,000 (50 Club) or $10,000 (100 Club) William Grant & Sons whisky account with their preferred distributor.
“The programme will grow and evolve as we work with our members to understand what works best for them and what their needs are,” Dickson added. “Ultimately we want to support the trade as the Scotch whisky experts we know William Grant & Sons are.”
Numbers are limited for the initial membership drive, so venues wanting to join Century Club should contact William Grant & Sons.
*Venues stocking expressions 16YO or older drove +478% more value than those only stocking up to 10YO (UK OUTLET DATA; CGA EPOS MAT up to 13/01/2018). Venues that stocked ten or more malts sold more (1,512 serves) compared to venues stocking eight malts (611) verses four malts (273), and increasing growth rate (UK OUTLET DATA; CGA EPOS MAT up to 13/01/2018)
