Gin Brand Champion 2022: Tanqueray

The gin category had a positive year in 2021 with a welcome return to growth. Gin’s total volume increased by 9.5% to 96.6 million cases in 2021, according to Euromonitor International. And across our million-case sellers, all but one brand was in growth last year.

With sales up by a third in 2021, this year’s Gin Brand Champion title goes to Tanqueray.

The Diageo-owned brand saw its volumes leap by 36.3% to 5.6m cases, adding an impressive one million cases from 2019. Tanqueray helped Diageo’s overall gin sales to rise by 21% in the second half of 2021, with the brand driving growth in Europe (up in organic net sales by 41%), and Latin America and the Caribbean (up by 40%).

Over the past year, the brand revealed several innovations – including its first alcohol-free variant, a blackcurrant flavour and two ready-to-drink products. Ivan Menezes, CEO of Diageo, told investors during a presentation for the firm’s financial results for the second half of 2021, that the company had increased its marketing investment behind Tanqueray, specifically through its ‘Unmistakeably Tanqueray’ campaign.

He also highlighted that Tanqueray No Ten grew by 33% during the six-month period, with the brand “gaining category share across several key markets”.

The gin brand also harnessed the power of celebrities over the past year to boost sales. Actor and Martini lover Stanley Tucci presented Tanqueray-based cocktails from a virtual bar, while musician Joe Jonas was tapped to star in a digital series for orange-flavoured gin Tanqueray Flor de Sevilla in the US.

In addition, the brand recently joined forces with Netflix’s Regency-era hit series Bridgerton to launch a video campaign starring Jonas and one of the leading actors on the show, Jonathan Bailey.

In another star-studded collaboration, Tanqueray teamed up with director Ridley Scott to create a series of digital spots inspired by its Martini integration in his latest film, House of Gucci. The gin brand was featured during a ‘pivotal moment’ in the biographical film where the two lead characters are brought together over a Martini.

Among the other million-case sellers, fellow Diageo brand Gordon’s rose by 11.2% to 7.4m cases after reporting stagnant sales in 2020. Bacardi-owned Bombay Sapphire recorded a small increase of 3.5%, while Pernod Ricard’s Seagram’s was the only brand to decline last year (down by 2%). Seagram’s stablemate Beefeater had a more positive year, with sales rising by 23.5%.

William Grant’s cucumber-infused Hendrick’s also reported an impressive increase of 33.1%, but it failed to surpass its 2019 sales. Meanwhile, the category welcomed a new million-case brand, Diageo-owned Gilbey’s, which saw sales rise by 67.2% to reach the 1m mark for the first time.

Figures: million 9l-case sales