Strongbow ‘connects with nature’ in latest campaign as it aims to inspire the younger generation

Strongbow Apple Ciders is launching its ‘Nature Remix’ campaign today (7 April) as it seeks to extend its appeal among millennials on a global scale by positioning itself as a brand ‘with a positive point of view’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjH-f5nTcCM&feature=youtu.be

The campaign, co-created with Cloudfactory, includes experiential activity, as well as a new TV ad, digital films and social media amplification. All activity focuses on the brand’s range of nature-inspired flavoured ciders. While the ad won’t be shown on TV in the UK, the brand will run a digital campaign.

The TV ad shows how Strongbow Apple Ciders created an orchard in central Johannesburg, South Africa, by allowing local gardeners to plant apple trees in a derelict urban space. All trees used in the campaign were donated to the university fruit garden in a bid to “leave a tangible legacy”. The brand is currently planning similar experiential activity in Toronto, Bucharest, Bratislava, Prague, Lisbon and Vietnam.

Jiri Rakosnik, global marketing manager of cider at Strongbow parent Heineken, believes the campaign will get Strongbow noticed outside of the UK where brand awareness is not as high, as well as allow the cider brand to take a more emotional route.

He told Marketing Week: “Instead of using traditional pictures of apples and orchards as a way of explaining the category, we wanted to create [a campaign] that cider drinkers could get emotional about. So we needed to have a positive point of view.”

Connecting with nature

Rakosnik added that the brand is also currently hoping to fit in with a current trend among millennials to connect with nature.

“We come from the orchard, but mainly talk to a young generation that lives in the cities. If you look at what makes them tick, they are the first generation since the 1960s to have a positive attitude towards the world,” he explained.

“Nature seems to be a big topic across art, architecture, fashion and pop culture. As people try to reconnect with nature, it seemed like a match made in heaven for the brand. It’s not so much about sustainability as about inspiring young people to get their hands dirty and make cities more enjoyable and fun to live in.”

Rakosnik, however, believes that the campaign is more than a piece of ‘experiential’ activity and will have wider positive consequences.

He concludes: “It’s not just about creating something nice for the sake of it or for shooting the ad. It is about doing things first before talking about it. We want to do something with the local community for the local community.”

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