17.12.07
Matt
Marketing Magners
It’s the perfect time of year for a Magners… hold on a second, I thought it was the perfect time for Magners back in August… and before that wasn’t it springtime? The advertisements for this contemporary Irish1 cider must think we all have the recall ability of a goldfish. But it still is quite clever.
Back in the summer the TV ads showed scenes of balmy days in apple orchards, the camera swooping amongst the branches, the sun glinting through the leaves. This all made sense. Summer seemed to be the perfect time of year to enjoy a crisp cold cider. Then autumn came and surely it was time to disconnect the barrels and clear the fridge of bottles, no? No! This is the perfect time as the apples ripen on the tree. Where were they getting the apples from earlier in the year? And so the adverts changed to autumnal scenes, the sun low in the sky, orange and brown tones of the leaves and the thirst quenching power of iced cider.
But now winter is here. Surely now it’s no longer the perfect time for a Magners. Of course it is! It’s “a time to celebrate” and what better way to do this than with a freezing cold glass of fizzy alcoholic apple juice. The posters show a glass being held aloft, holly and pine-cones frame the scene. The TV ad shows the Magner’s orchard again, this time dusted with snow. A young fellow gathers up firewood. It’s Christmas and cider is the festive drink if you are to believe this.
Magners have (I assume successfully) been doing this since Spring 2005. Every season has had a campaign since then, always playing on that particular time of year’s climatic trends. It’s testament to the power of advertising that consumers can be convinced to buy what is typically a warm weather drink all year round. Magners are not the only drink producer that are up to this. Pimm’s too have started a winter advertisement campaign, although theirs differs a little as they have released/rebranded a winter specific product, Pimm’s Winter previously called Pimm’s No. 3 Cup (the summer variety is Pimm’s No. 1 Cup).
So it would seem it’s always the perfect time for a drink, but remember to drink responsibly… all year.
1. Sam Delaney wrote a good article last year in The Guardian about the use of the adjective “Irish” in the marketing of Magners.
