Strongbow ad highlights growers behind raw materials
STRONGBOW cider’s Herefordshire roots are at the heart of a new summer ad campaign for the brand.
The new ‘Bittersweet’ TV ad pays homage to the farmers who grow the one billion British cider apples that are said to go into making Strongbow every year.
Describing the advert as a “game-changer for the brand”, parent company Heineken said it is the first time it has communicated Strongbow’s “cider making and quality credentials”; it said the ad is designed to “reinforce the fact that quality cider can be farmed on a significant and epic scale”.
We can deliver beautifully balanced cider on an epic scale.
In the advert, time-lapse photography and a split-screen visual have been used to recreate the Strongbow journey from orchard to pub garden, bracketing different images as either bitter or sweet.
Heineken said the two adjectives relate the cider-making process directly to Strongbow itself, describing the “dryness and edge” of the drink while also acknowledging the “tough yet thoroughly rewarding, round-the-clock work that goes into growing, pressing and producing the cider”.
As the ad unfolds, the images highlight the vagaries of nature and the dedication that Strongbow’s apple farmers show to growing the cider apples. A voiceover explains: “The growing and pressing of one billion British cider apples – it’s bittersweet by nature.”
Michael Gillane, cider brand director at Heineken, said: “This is the first time Strongbow has ever celebrated its cider making credentials.
“It shows that, by combining the best of traditional methods with modern equipment, we can deliver a beautifully balanced cider with the right amount of bite; and on an epic scale.
“We’re proud of Strongbow and how we make it; and Bittersweet simply underlines this pride.”
