SUMMARY
Branded advertising, a foundation of brand-building efforts, seek to persuade consumers to select a specific brand over a competitor brand. The objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of branded advertising in the alcoholic beverage industry of South Africa, particularly with regard to the relationship between alcohol advertising, price effects and alcohol consumption (brand and segment). A causal research design was used, which included secondary data analysis (SDA) and quantitative time series data analysis spanning a 32 months period. Variables included brand advertising expenditure; -sales volume; -market share; -retail selling price (RSP); and segment volume. Tests for stationarity, co-integration and regression were applied to assess associations between constructs. The findings indicate that branded alcohol advertising had little or no effect on brand- and segment consumption, or brand market share whereas price effects were significant. Limitations include the scope of the time series of data and the exclusion of below-the-line advertising expenditure. Notwithstanding, this paper provides evidence to support the imperative of the integrated marketing mix and optimal combination of marketing mix elements.