WHEN EXPERIMENTATION PAID OFF FOR BULMERS

THE PROBLEM:

Bulmers was getting outflanked in the cider market, conceding volume and profit to the more traditional Magners brand, and the newer fruit ciders like Koppaberg & Rekorderlig.  As a result, Bulmers was becoming less relevant to its target audience who were dubbed “experience seekers.”

It was time to take up the fight.

THE SOLUTION:

Reposition Bulmers from a traditional to be seen as an innovative cider maker, highlighting its pioneering credentials, and allowing it to move beyond apples and pears for the first time.

The brand design was overhauled including bottle shape, brand logo and advertising.

Bulmers No 17 NPD was created and launched in a fraction of the time Heineken usually took to get to market.  The launch plan included innovative (at the time) media choices of digital panels, specially negotiated “blip-verts” on C4, 2 TV adverts and a series of experiential events.  Everything was integrated to the creative idea of ”Experimenters Wanted.”

THE RESULTS:

Simply exceptional. Relevance within the target audience grew by 10pp vs the previous year and Bulmers No17 became the #1 flavoured cider within 6 months of launch, securing 22% share of market, with 63% of the brand value being incremental to the category.

…and Heineken are still reaping the rewards from this sprint project over 10 years later.