Background/Challenge
Magners Cider had suffered from several years of underinvestment and a certain amount of confusion over positioning, with an overhang from sponsorships in horse racing and rugby that were no longer reflecting where the brand wanted to be. In addition, while there was good awareness of its pint bottle, the draught product had an awareness issue.
The objective was to create an event series that would appeal to the young, urban long alcoholic drinker, excite the trade and enable the brand to grow in a new direction, whilst addressing draught awareness.
Our response
We created ‘The Secret Orchard’ as an interactive sampling event that led to a live music roadshow, incorporating a finale where competition winners enjoyed a unique live experience in the Magners Orchard in Clonmel.
Secret Orchard sampling events worked alongside above the line advertising and organic social media to bring people to free live performances from up-and-coming music acts in each of four cities, as follows:
A ‘Secret Serve’ bar in each venue enabled consumers to try product variants and cider cocktails. Selected winners were brought to Ireland to stay in yurts in the Secret Orchard in Clonmel and enjoy a truly memorable live event and performance.
Execution
A bespoke website hub was created to add to the 360 degree consumer experience.
Road show
At the start of the summer a modular kit was created for the Magners Secret Orchard Roadshow. Each of these pieces were then brought and fitted into each venue with some elements remaining as semi permanent installs. With this modular kit we were able to adapt to the different styles and requirements of each individual space – using a number of key elements.
Hero event in Clonmel:
Set amongst the stunning surroundings of the Magners Orchard in Clonmel, the Secret Orchard was brought to life. Four major spaces within the heart of the orchard were utilised for the event to allow guests to get the full experience. The main event space was set up in the walled garden with the glamping, Seanchaí and Secret Serves Bar experiences held under the apple trees themselves, with guests truly exploring the magic of the orchard. Several temporary structures were brought in to give a festival feel; food trucks, the main stage, bars, indoor dining space, and 15 yurts for campers. A fully Creative builds included a functional Secret Serve bar and bespoke nook for the Seanchaí were also created for the event. In using pre-existing set pieces, design and build costs were kept down as well as the benefit of enhancing sustainable practices.
Builds included:
At every event, we had live interactive experiences for guests to enjoy. This allowed brand engagement through multiple ways encompassing the 5 senses.
Results
The response to each element of the campaign was extremely positive, with
Website hub
Sampling campaign led to 934 pints being sampled and 2141 items of merchandise given to consumers
The Secret Orchard events had an organic reach of 293,973
Client Testimonial
“The Magners Secret Orchard was a highly successful first step towards reinvigorating the Magners brand in the UK. All of our metric benchmarks were met and we look forward to developing the opportunity this has created for the brand.”
Iain Telford, Tennents UK
