You
may well have seen the spot by now. It’s no longer particularly new. A TV ad
highlighting the seasonal nature of cider apple growing, and the care and
attention that goes into making Strongbow cider.
And
I’m confused. Because Strongbow isn’t known for quality. It’s known for being
cheap, plentiful, and not particularly nice. There’s a reason people mix it
with squash. And that it’s one of the main ingredients of snakebite. I have no
beef with Strongbow. But it isn’t known for quality.
(Although
interestingly in Australia Strongbow is branded as an English heritage product.
Cutesy images of trees and apples and everything.)
The
point is, there are other ciders, even mass market ones like Magners, which
place their quality and care as a key selling point – and it’s believable because
they are actually quite nice.
So
why is Strongbow going down this route for its advertising? We can only assume
that they feel a need to aim for a more mature audience.
After
all, Strongbow ads have traditionally been very strong, playing on humour and
funny scenarios – exactly the kind of thing to appeal to a younger class of
drinker, who wants something cheap but also wants a brand that seems to
understand and care about their sense of humour. But perhaps that market is
under threat by own brand supermarket offerings, which are much cheaper and
taste about the same. Advertising can only trump cost to a point.
That
there is one of the most interesting market developments of the last few years.
Many value range branded goods are suffering from the competition of cheaper
supermarket-made alternatives.
(It’s
probably worth an article of its own. I’ll have a think.)
But
here’s the main point: if you see an advert that looks odd, seems unusual or
out of tone for a brand, start thinking. Why is it there?
Quite
often, the answers are more easy to reason out than you think.
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