Tim Palmer Gordon's has been given its most radical change for 60 years as part of Guinness UDV's plans to revitalise the gin stalwart. The pack has had a major facelift and the brand will go back on TV for the first time in five years. To pay for this the marketing budget has been increased by 50% to £15m this year. The brand is the clear leader in the sector and accounts for a third of its value. But the growth of gin sales has been slow compared with its main rival vodka. Last year the off-trade gin market was was up 2% by volume (ACNielsen) to two million cases. Gordon is leading the way with 6% growth. Vodka grew 9% and sold 3.5 million cases. But the trade is unconvinced that the brand and the sector can be brought to life. A Sainsbury spokesman said: "Maybe they could turn the market round with enough investment, but gin drinkers tend to drink what they are used to and getting them to change is an uphill task." Landmark's buying controller Kevin Thistlethwaite added: "A cosmetic change will do no harm but with everything going on in the vodka and PPS categories, it is difficult for gin to make much headway." Guinness UDV has changed the bottle shape by making it taller and revised the label. Part of the push behind the brand includes the new TV ads which will hit screens in early summer. They will be supported by a national poster campaign. Guinness UDV is also working on a relationship marketing strategy and will target two million gin consumers on its database. There will be more point of purchase signs available to the off-trade and a range of cross merchandising initiatives, principally with tonic, are being lined up. {{DRINKS }}

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