Magners’ sales plummet ahead of marketing drive
Magners owner C&C Group suffered a double-digit hit to its cider revenue in 2013 raising the stakes for the upcoming marketing drive for its flagship brand to boost sales in the competitive market.
Revenue for the brewer’s cider brands, which also include Gaymers and Addlestones, plummeted 17.5 per cent drop in the nine months to 30 November. Volumes fell 13.5 per cent over the same period.
C&C Group said the decline of its biggest brand Magners was driven “by the multiple retail channel; on-‐trade volumes by comparison remained relatively steady”.
The ongoing slump cranks the pressure on the group’s biggest brand Magners, which is expected to launch a marketing push to recoup lost share from rivals such as Kopparberg and Strongbow. The cider updated its packaging, its second in the last three years, last November to support the push, claiming at the time it wants to “recapture” the “spontaneity” and “sociability” it had when it first launched.
Magners’ upcoming activity is set to go head-to-head to with a marketing burst from Kopparberg to push its flavoured ranges.
C&C Group posted a jump in international volumes on the back of growth from cider and beer sales in Europe and some newer markets. Volumes for the nine months to November rocketed by almost 90 per cent, while revenues climbed by 92 per cent.
