Cider, overhauled Coolers line a bid to find more male consumers
Waterloo-based craft brewer Brick Brewing is launching a new cider product that president and CEO George Croft says will capitalize on growing cider consumption both in Canada and around the world.
Launching in Ontario’s LCBO stores the first week of April, Seagram Cider is the second new product to appear under the re-launched Seagram Blends business. Last year, Brick Brewing paid $7.3 million to acquire the Canadian rights to the Seagram Coolers brand from Corby Distilleries Limited.
Cider represents an attractive growth opportunity for the beverage alcohol category, said Croft, citing last week’s deal by MillerCoors LLC to acquire the Crispin Cider Company for an undisclosed sum. According to Croft, Canadian sales of domestic and import cider were up 14.5% and 9.5% respectively in 2011. In Ontario, meanwhile, domestic cider sales were up 9.9% last year, while import cider sales were up 10.1%.
“We wanted to expand the categories we could participate in under the Seagram trademark, and certainly cider was one of the categories we wanted an extension to,” Croft told Marketing.
“We think we’ve created a very unique, meaningful point of difference with regards to our product.”
The launch of Seagram Cider will be supported by out-of-home and transit shelter advertising. While the creative strategy is still in development, Croft said it will likely focus on the fact that Seagram Cider is made from 100% Ontario apples and contains no preservatives.
Marketing for Brick Brewing is handled by Toronto agency Unitas Reputation Agency, which is headed by former Grip Limited partner Mike Robitaille. The agency also developed the product’s packaging, which Croft said is designed to appeal to the product’s primary audience of young males 19 to 30.
The cider will be sold in single-serve 473ml cans. According to Croft, single-serve cans represent more than half of all beer sold within the LCBO.
Brick Brewing is embarking on what the company characterizes as a “significant shift in strategy” for Seagram as it nears the one-year anniversary of operating the historic brand. To date, it has eliminated the “Wild” “Swirl” and “Spritzer” brand names from the Seagram Coolers business, unifying all of the products under the Seagram name.
It is also striving to transform a product that has been almost exclusively female into one that appeals to both men and women – it’s moving away from using only bottles to a product mix that includes cans, and abandoning artificial flavouring in favour of a more natural approach that includes spring water, natural flavours, no preservatives and reduced calories.
The brand overhaul also includes a tweaking of the name from Seagram Coolers to Seagrams Blends. “Coolers, for us, feels somewhat dated and very female in nature,” said Croft. “Blends much better [aligns] with what we plan to do with the Seagram brands over time.”
According to its latest financial results, Brick Brewing moved up from the fifth largest brewer in Ontario to fourth (by volume) propelled largely by what Croft called “great momentum” in its Laker brand.
Is this the right play for the Coolers line? Will cider continue this level of growth? Post your thoughts in our comment section.
