Cadbury's Cream Liqueur: A Case History

Reports on the launch of Cadbury's Cream Liqueur by Bass in 1990 into the UK's cream liqueur market, hitherto dominated by IDV's Baileys Irish Cream. Within a year Cadbury's had grown to become the number two brand. Explains how the creation of the brand was based on a specific anti‐Baileys strategy, and details the research stages which formed part of the evolution and optimization. Distribution and sales figures illustrate the brand's rapid success. Unusually, this success has been achieved at full price, although most competitors to Baileys around the world have been price brands. The story of Cadbury's Cream Liqueur shows how a major drinks brand can be created from scratch, as was Bailey's itself: interestingly both brands were the brain‐children of the same new product development consultancy, Innovation & Development Limited.