Abstract
I decided to analyze and formulate a marketing plan for Southern Comfort because of the strong brand image it has. I didn't know Southern Comfort a month ago, and I was really pleased to discover this brand. When I started gathering information about the brand, I was not expecting such a surprise. Having many friends in the bar industry very well established in Paris, I thought I knew a lot about this market and the products. However it appears that this drink is not very famous in France yet, neither on a big scale in Europe.
By delving further, I realized that Southern Comfort has a really strong image, but does not export its products much. We are going to see how it could be interesting for the company to focus more on Europe, and we will use the model of Jack Daniel's, which is owned by the same company: Brown-Forman.
The company has been created by Martin Wilkes Heron, native from Ireland, who immigrated to St Louis with his family, known as a 'Gateway to the West', since it happened during the Gold Rush (1850 - 1870). Instead of settling in Los Angeles, this future entrepreneur became a bartender in New Orleans. This is where he created his unique liquor, coming from whiskey with blends of peach, orange, vanilla, sugar and cinnamon. He becomes a legend in New Orleans nightlife; the place was already a melting pot symbol. The drink soon became very popular as a gentleman's drink, and cocktails created with this liquor became very popular through big parties: this happened in 1903.
For being so innovative, Southern Comfort was awarded Gold Medal at World Exposition in Paris. MW Heron died during the Prohibition, and the drinks recipe passed on to his successors. The recipe survived the ravages of time and lived a prosperous local life, until the drink became more famous with the Scarlett O'Hara Cocktail during World War II. In 1979, Southern Comfort was bought by Brown‐Forman Corporation, a company of fine quality products such as liquors, wine or whiskeys. Founded in 1870 in Kentucky, the company owns 25 brands of wines and spirits and covers more than 135 countries.
