Beyond the bomb: Jagermeister eyes broader consumer appeal with ‘sophisticated’ product innovations
Jagermeister is the one of the largest alcohol brands in the world, most commonly associated with the Jagerbomb – a shot of Jagermeister dropped into an energy drink, usually Red Bull – which has also made it one of the most popular products with college-age students everywhere.
At its core, Jagermeister is in fact a herbal liqueur that is made of a sophisticated blend of 56 herbs and spices, marketed as a digestif, and the brand is now looking to move out of the mold of being solely associated with college parties and shots.
“Jagerbombs are undoubtedly a strong part of our history, but we want to expand our reach and appeal to even more consumers including those looking for a more sophisticated, elegant drink,” Jagermeister Vice President Global Travel Retail Tobias Witte told FoodNavigator-Asia at the recent Tax Free World Association (TFWA) event in Singapore.
“The appeal to the young market has been strong and it has been great, but only appealing to one consumer base is really not sustainable for the company’s future, plus we don’t want to lose the consumer after they pass that stage and grow out of the college phase.”
The firm thus turned to new product innovation to create new items that would retain the Jagermeister base, but presented in a much more sophisticated format.
“So we have developed two interesting products to appeal to a wider demographic – the Jagermeister Manifest and Cold Brew Coffee. The former is essentially a much more premium Jagermeister offering with stronger herbs and botanicals, blended with a wheat distillate and it has a more rounded finish with vanilla notes – and is sweeter even though it actually does not have any added sugar,” Jagermeister Trade Marketing Director Global Travel Retail Stephanie Cleary told us.
“It also has a higher ABV of 38% compared to the traditional variant’s 35%, whereas the Cold Brew Coffee has 33% - this is a blend of Jagermeister with cold brew Arabica coffee that will appeal to those looking for a refined drink earlier in the day, such as an espresso martini but with a bit of a herbal twist.”
Experience is the key
The tendency of consumers sampling and tasting products in-store has gone down in the APAC region in general since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, likely due to increased caution, but Jagermeister still believes that this is the key activation strategy.
“We have not seen any negative impact in terms of consumers not being able to sample products, but we do believe that trial is still key – we always advocate sampling where we can and we like to have a brand ambassador and inform consumers, that is our way,” Cleary added.
“So we always do that where we can, but where it’s not possible we still navigate our way through via methods such as education, storytelling, consumer engagement and other activations – but trial is still the most important.”
She added that for travel retail in particular, being able to create an experience that draws consumers in will be crucial to brands standing out in the market.
“For alcohol and new products like the Manifest, it’s always going to be liquid to mouth as the most important activator – but there are other aspects that are important too,” she said.
“The trend now is to go beyond retail to tailor really high class experiences for consumers where they can engage with friends and have a memorable time – this is particularly true for APAC where there are many amazing airports and hubs with the ability to set this up.
“Focusing on the consumer is very much the trick and we know this – I think we’ve already done over 60 activations globally this year, and there are many more to come including in Singapore’s Changi airport and Hainan.”
