Over the years, Jägermeister (or simply “Jager” among many consumers) has created a really strong brand among young adults. The brand has become synonymous with the popular drink Jager Bombs and many consumers associate it with late-nite partying.
As the company looked for new areas of growth, however, it wanted to build its brand among older consumers. While Jager is a great party drink, the liquor’s flavor in fact lends itself well to a wide range of sophisticated cocktails. Delivering the right message and story in the market and inspiring consumers to try Jager in different formats were key to reframing the brand’s identity, attracting a wider range of demographics, and driving revenue growth.
Reach3 Insights conducted a multi-phase, iterative research project using conversational approaches to understand current perceptions about the brand and uncover the best opportunities moving forward.
In the first phase, legal drinking-age (LDA) adults were invited via a chat survey to share their thoughts on Jägermeister. Videos from this phase inspired the Jägermeister team to brainstorm ideas for new brand positioning and drink formats to be tested among the same consumers in phase 2. A mix of Millennials, Baby Boomers and Gen Xers participated in highly engaging conversational exercises, with nearly all agreeing to be contacted for future phases of research.
In the second phase, consumers were re-contacted via text notification and asked about their reactions to potential brand messages, new Jager drink concepts, hypothetical brand partnerships and new innovation ideas. Robust quantitative data revealed each asset’s relative strengths and weaknesses. Jägermeister also received rich qualitative content in the form of audio and video uploads, which helped provide context and color to the results—something that would have been difficult to capture in a single research touchpoint via a traditional research approach.
We are very proud of the Jägermeister brand, and we believe it could appeal to a wider range of drinking-age consumers. The insights we received from Reach3 revealed the best messaging for our company and will help inform our marketing, product and partnership decisions. Hearing and seeing our target consumers via videos provided very interesting insights and really inspired our team to come up with innovative products that we can’t wait to bring to market.
—Lucien van Huyssteen, Director Consumer Strategy & Commercial Planning, Mast-Jägermeister US
A comprehensive interactive, multimedia digital report was delivered to the Jägermeister team revealing which new messages or assets resonated best with consumers across each age cohort.
While the study confirmed that consumers had a somewhat narrow view of the brand, it also showed that people were very interested in new drink formats incorporating Jagermeister. In particular, consumers demonstrated quite the appetite for the Jägermeister Old Fashioned and Jägermeister & Cold Brew formats!
Insights from the study will inform new marketing campaigns, partnerships and even product innovation as Jägermeister reimagines its brand.