Strongbow achieved a lot but much work must still be done
The dust is settling on cider after a flurry of activity which has given it the kind of platform it has craved for years.
Strongbow's £11m promotional budget for the last year worked wonders for morale as the whole sector thrived on the back of the success of prime time TV ads featuring Johnny Vaughan.
Bulmers' decision to pump so much capital into its top brand reversed a general trend of underinvestment and convinced buyers that cider was still viable in a crowded fixture. It also prompted the kind of bullish statements which tempt the worst kind of fate.
A year on and Johnny Vaughan is out of the picture. Instead Bulmers has ploughed its cash into a makeover for the brand and a new set of lower profile ads.
Strongbow might not have done as well as it had hoped, but still reached number three in the top 10 selling brands last year and is now at number six [TNS].
But as Bulmers waits to see the outcome of Strongbow's new look and £8m promotional support, it has been catapulted into the spotlight after announcing a £3.8m hole for "promotional costs" in its accounts.
The d颢cle has resulted in the resignation of both the chief executive Mike Hughes and financial director Alan Flockhart.
PR manager George Thomas says: "We realise we need to regain the confidence of our trade customers. We have been put under the glare of the media but we're not talking about a huge figure."
Meanwhile, the cider category is losing ground to PPSs.
Asda's marketing manager for beers and spirits Sarah Fothergill says: "There's still a lot of work to do to encourage beer drinkers to add this to their repertoire."
Thatchers is working to increase awareness about its single varietal ciders that are positioned against wine as an accompaniment to food. It has relaunched its range of six with new labels and a fresh bottle design to emphasise the characteristics of the individual apples, broaden the usage occasions, and appeal to the connoisseur.
"There is still a huge, untapped market for cider in the UK," says Thatchers MD Martin Thatcher. "Our head cider maker was trained in winemaking, and employs New World techniques, translating them for our premium ciders."
But retailers are unconvinced. Sainsbury director of wines Allan Cheesman says: "Cider is struggling a bit but it's OK Â it doesn't set the world on fire. Table cider's a tough call.
"It's an interesting innovation but people have tried it before.
"Cider is really a summer drink and, like Madeira wine, people get out of the habit of drinking it."
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The dust is settling on cider after a flurry of activity which has given it the kind of platform it has craved for years.
Strongbow's £11m promotional budget for the last year worked wonders for morale as the whole sector thrived on the back of the success of prime time TV ads featuring Johnny Vaughan.
Bulmers' decision to pump so much capital into its top brand reversed a general trend of underinvestment and convinced buyers that cider was still viable in a crowded fixture. It also prompted the kind of bullish statements which tempt the worst kind of fate.
A year on and Johnny Vaughan is out of the picture. Instead Bulmers has ploughed its cash into a makeover for the brand and a new set of lower profile ads.
Strongbow might not have done as well as it had hoped, but still reached number three in the top 10 selling brands last year and is now at number six [TNS].
But as Bulmers waits to see the outcome of Strongbow's new look and £8m promotional support, it has been catapulted into the spotlight after announcing a £3.8m hole for "promotional costs" in its accounts.
The d颢cle has resulted in the resignation of both the chief executive Mike Hughes and financial director Alan Flockhart.
PR manager George Thomas says: "We realise we need to regain the confidence of our trade customers. We have been put under the glare of the media but we're not talking about a huge figure."
Meanwhile, the cider category is losing ground to PPSs.
Asda's marketing manager for beers and spirits Sarah Fothergill says: "There's still a lot of work to do to encourage beer drinkers to add this to their repertoire."
Thatchers is working to increase awareness about its single varietal ciders that are positioned against wine as an accompaniment to food. It has relaunched its range of six with new labels and a fresh bottle design to emphasise the characteristics of the individual apples, broaden the usage occasions, and appeal to the connoisseur.
"There is still a huge, untapped market for cider in the UK," says Thatchers MD Martin Thatcher. "Our head cider maker was trained in winemaking, and employs New World techniques, translating them for our premium ciders."
But retailers are unconvinced. Sainsbury director of wines Allan Cheesman says: "Cider is struggling a bit but it's OK Â it doesn't set the world on fire. Table cider's a tough call.
"It's an interesting innovation but people have tried it before.
"Cider is really a summer drink and, like Madeira wine, people get out of the habit of drinking it."
{{FOCUS ON }}
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