• by David Kaplan , October 27, 2004

Spirits marketer Allied Domecq is already embracing the spirit of the Christmas season, as the company is announcing a 20 percent holiday hike in media spending and new campaigns for its Kahlua, Stolichnaya, and Malibu brands.

The three brands combined spent roughly $80 million this year, according to TNS Media Intelligence/CMR. An Allied Domecq spokeswoman declined to comment on specific spending amounts.

"As far as the breakdown between TV and print advertising, in terms of the 20 percent increase in media spending over the same period last year--TV will host a majority of the spend and print will be more limited," said Layton Meng, who represents Allied Domecq through the PR firm Qorvis.

According to CMR, the three Allied Domecq brands spent roughly $25 million in the period bptween November and January.

"With a 20 percent lift in spending, Allied Domecq is going to deliver a 30 percent increase in adult consumer impressions," said a statement from Simon Hunt, senior vice president marketing, Allied Domecq Spirits, North America. His statement also noted that the holiday sales season, from Thanksgiving through New Year's, is a critical time for the spirits industry, representing nearly 50 percent of sales for entire year.

The ads kick off in early November, just in time for the holiday selling season, on national cable and local spot TV on shows such as "Desperate Housewives," "CSI," "Trading Spaces," "Alias," and "Nip/Tuck," as well as on BET.

Allied Domecq has been ramping up its marketing efforts this fall. Last month, the company announced that its Clos du Bois brand, a California wine with a French name, will try to play down the French connection and convince consumers to trade up to its super-premium brand via a year-long, $5 million campaign, which represents a nearly 60 percent increase in its marketing budget of the year before.