Furthermore, recent changes and improvements in the way ACNielsen calculate value sales*1 through their Scantrak Impulse Service provides conclusive evidence that Cockburn’s was the undisputed number one Port in value terms over the important Christmas period and had not fallen back to the number two position as previously reported.
Reworked ACNielsen figures*2 for the MAT period ending 27th December 2003 show Cockburn’s owning 23.6% off trade value share, almost 1.5% ahead of it nearest rival and that Cockburn’s Special Reserve was almost twice the size of its nearest competitor*3. More recent data to the 17th April 2004 show Cockburn’s consolidating this position.
Cockburn’s brand manager Nick Marshall commented, “We are very pleased with the reworked figures and believe they support Allied Domecq’s strategy of focusing on growing long term value in the Port category and maintaining the premium image of Port in the UK. We have remained committed to our pricing structure and maintain that extensive discounting, as undertaken by some of our competitors, confuses the consumer and will lead to the downgrading of the image of port and the devaluing of the product in the minds of the consumer.”
Cockburn Smithes® launched Cockburn’s Special Reserve in 1969 and will celebrate the wine’s 35th birthday in 2004.
~Ends~
Note to editors
*1The improvement to the ACNielsen Scantrak Impulse service was necessary due to the way that certain retailers supply their retail information to ACNielsen. ACNielsen has, up until now, been overestimating multi-buy activity in these retailers. However, by working closely with these retailers this issue has now been resolved (all backdata has been re-worked.)
*2 Source: ACNielsen Scantrak Impulse MAT we 28/12/03 (Post Nett Value Implementation)
*3 ACNielsen Scantrak Impulse MAT we 28/12/03 (Post Nett Value Implementation) shows Cockburn’s Special Reserve® with 17.3% off trade value share and it’s nearest rival brand with 9.1% off trade value share.
Cockburn’s® and Cockburn Smithes® are registered trademarks of Allied Domecq Spirits & Wine Ltd.
