Jameson whiskey sales rose 14 per cent in the six months to the end of December as spirits grew in popularity in the US and greater advertising of the brand attracted new drinkers.
Jameson, distilled in Ireland for more than 200 years and owned by Irish Distillers Group, is to begin its first global advertising campaign as it gears up to take on Diageo's Johnnie Walker brand.
At the end of 2005, parent company Pernod Ricard said it would spend €40 million on advertising and promoting Jameson this year, and spent €400,000 on the whiskey's sponsorship of the recent Dublin International Film Festival.
Paris-based Pernod will use the advertising campaign to boost awareness of Jameson, which previously received little marketing support from its French parent.
Jameson has been the world's fastest-growing whiskey brand for the "last couple of years", according to an Irish Distillers spokesman.
Sales of the whiskey grew 12 per cent in volume terms, Pernod said when it released fiscal first-half earnings yesterday. While Jameson grew in emerging markets such as Russia and South Africa, its biggest market is the US, where whiskey has been undergoing a renaissance as younger drinkers seek out drinks different to their parents' favourite tipples.
The Irish whiskey market in the US is estimated to have grown by more than 15 per cent last year, compared to 6 per cent growth for Scotch.
