Magners seeks a bigger bite of Asia’s cider market

Last week the company handed its creative mandate to Havas-owned Host Singapore, which announced the launch of a 360 creative campaign. Andrew Herd, marketing manager, Asia-Pacific for C&C, said the campaign’s focus was to build awareness among its target market.

While Magners has been available in Singapore for over seven years, the company is now determined to consolidate the brand and focus on brand building and raising awareness.

“Asia is a core growth region across many industries at this point and time, and the focus on Asia from Magners is in line with the expected growth,” Herd said.

The first campaign will be launched within the next few months and will cover traditional above-the-line, digital, retail and on-ground activations. “It’s a challenger brand in this part of the world,” said Dan Gibson, group MD of Havas Creative Group. “Our pitch tackled that head-on and we are really excited to now deliver against that shared ambition.”

C&C’s Asia’s move comes after a disappointing third quarter in the US and UK where intense competition caused a 9.8 per cent drop in cider volume and an 18.2 per cent decrease in revenue.

Although a tiny fraction of the alcohol sector, cider registered a total volume growth of 28 per cent in Singapore in 2013, a Euromonitor report said. The strong growth is attributed to the influx of new brands, natural flavours, lower alcohol content and positive consumer perception. “It appeals to not only young drinkers who are new to social drinking but also mature drinkers who seek more sophisticated taste,” the report notes.

According to the market research firm, the category’s growing popularity, both on-trade and off-trade is likely to see brands expand their variants and result in 11 per cent growth each year through to 2018.  

Also intent on expanding presence, in January, market leader Carlsberg’s Somersby brand rolled out a digital and social media campaign in Singapore.