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Marketing Excellence Awards 2009 2. Communications Excellence B. Advertising Excellence Title: “If” only the sun would shine in summer Authors: David Amers (Planning Director) WORD COUNT: 2,035 -1- Background IRN-BRU is made by AG Barr, a Glasgow based soft drinks company. Whilst the Barr’s brand portfolio is increasing year on year, the company’s jewel in the crown remains IRN-BRU. It accounts for two thirds of Barr sales and most of this is generated from sales in Scotland. For 2008, AG Barr set us and IRN-BRU a major challenge: grow the brand by 4% in a market in decline. The summer is the key sales period for soft drinks so a strong performance from IRNBRU in summer in Scotland is a commercial imperative. However, with four out of the last six summers being a damp squib, IRN-BRU needed the support of strong marketing and advertising to ensure that it could meet its ambitious sales targets. (Met Office / Mintel, Premium Soft Drinks, UK, January 2008) -2- A big ask Growing IRN-BRU was going to be extremely difficult for a number of reasons. Firstly, the traditional carbonated soft drinks market is losing share of throat to other soft drinks. 100% 90% 80% Alcohol 14 14 15 14 14 15 15 15 14 15 16 15 15 16 17 17 15 15 15 8 7 6 6 5 5 5 6 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 70% 18 18 19 20 20 20 20 19 20 20 19 19 18 17 16 16 16 16 17 Other Bev Coffee Tea 50% 43 41 47 45 44 51 50 48 30% 9 7 8 6 7 4 4 4 5 8 8 8 9 8 8 8 8 5 9 8 9 10 11 11 10 11 11 12 10 9 7 2007 6 7 8 3 2000 5 3 3 6 4 1996 2 6 6 1988 6 1984 1975 0% 6 5 5 1 1 2 4 5 5 1980 10% Mineral Water 1992 20% 1 2 1 7 1 1 7 7 7 7 4 5 4 4 4 2 33 34 32 33 34 33 2005 40% 36 38 36 41 39 2003 % 60% Squash Juice/Juice Drinks Carbonates (Source: TNS / National Drinks Survey, drink units to end of September 2007) As the above chart shows, drinkers are moving away from traditional carbonates towards perceived healthier options such as water and fruit juices or drinks which offer functional benefits such as sports and energy drinks. IRN-BRU is an ‘Other Flavoured Carbonate’ (OFC) within the traditional carbonates sector. And it is the OFC category which is really struggling at the moment. As of summer 2008, the OFC market had 1 shrunk by 7% in volume terms across the UK . 1 Nielsen Scantrack, MAT 14/06/08 -3- This decline in OFCs is driven by health and behavioural trends, as mums, concerned about additives, flavourings and sugars, increasingly turn to drink options they consider to be healthier. In short, it’s harder for the likes of IRN-BRU to sustain their relevance to modern consumers. The soft drinks market is also increasingly competitive. In the year to May 2007, there were 73 launches in the carbonates sector but by May 2008 this figure had almost doubled to 1292. More choice has created less brand loyalty, as drinkers’ repertoires extend. The average drinker’s repertoire contained 5.2 brands in 2007 but this figure had 3 increased to 5.4 brands for IRN-BRU drinkers by 2008 . “IRN-BRU used to be the one that everyone drank at school, but that was 3 - 4 years ago. Now there are lots to choose from, it probably isn’t as popular as it used to be.” Respondent, Out of the Box qualitative research, December 2008 IRN-BRU still has to work hard to maintain consumer adoration. As the following chart shows, its arch rival Coke had significantly more loyalists than IRN-BRU prior to the 2008 summer campaign. 2 Marketing Week / Mintel, 31 July 2008 3 LVQ brand health tracking research, March 2008 -4- Scotland Brand Loyalty - Standard Drinks - 2008 Product Rejectors Concept Accepters 4 16 1 11 10 6 2 3 31 10 3 4 18 12 Occasional 31 16 29 Adopters 8 11 Regular 19 19 27 25 10 1 Fanta 13 30 Rejectors 24 23 Available 29 Accepters 25 43 Loyal 11 26 Adorers 10 10 Staunch Base: All (243) 7 7 Irn-Bru Coke 5 Dr Pepper 1 Lucozade 6 2 1 Orangina Adopters Adorers Coke has significantly more adorers and regular adopters than Irn-Bru. High rejection of Dr Pepper. 20 (LVQ brand health tracking research, March 2008) An ever growing competitive market meant that IRN-BRU was no longer automatically front of mind in Scotland; spontaneous brand awareness of IRN-BRU had fallen 13% 4 from 79% in 2007 to 66% by March 2008 . The advertising objectives The advertising was not expected to work in isolation. It was planned to be a leading part of a ‘weather proof’ summer marketing campaign which also included a glass promotion for two litre IRN-BRU bottles. The client set clear brand advertising objectives: 1. Enhance the brand’s stature and the audience’s affiliation in Scotland 2. Reinforce loyalty and win over lapsed users who have drifted into other drinks categories 3. Build desire for the product itself (achieving at least 60% agreement with the statement “I really fancy an IRN-BRU”) 4 LVQ brand health tracking research, March 2008 -5- The strategy and target audience Historically, AG Barr's hard working marketing budget has dictated that every IRN-BRU ad has to be able to work in two distinct regions – Scotland and England. In 2008, we had the opportunity to change our approach dramatically. Limited exposure to our previous summer ad (“Goth”) south of the border meant that running it in England only was an option. This meant that, for the first time in over 15 years, we had an opportunity to make a TV ad solely aimed at a Scottish audience. In other words, we could make an overtly Scottish ad and tap into the emotional connection Scots had with a genuine fabric brand. To begin with we changed the audience targeting. Previously, IRN-BRU advertising had sought primarily to win over a largely younger audience, who purchase the brand from impulse outlets (i.e corner shops and newsagents). However, when we interrogated the sales data further, we unearthed a surprising fact: it was the 22 to 44 year olds who deliver the volume sale for IRN-BRU in Scotland. The importance of winning over this audience became even clearer when we looked at the latest 'brand health' tracking. The biggest falls in brand adoration from 2007 to 2008 was in the 22 – 34 year old age range, followed by the 35 – 50 year olds. It became clear that our advertising had to work hard to build an emotional connection across a very broad age range. Our new advertising had to have adult appeal as well as appealing to a younger audience. -6- The message Research showed that, in Scotland, IRN-BRU gives people a little lift, either as a drink or in the likeable and distinctive way it markets itself. "Refreshed, galvanised, ready to go on" "Yes, when I'm a wee bit tired, it gives me a lift" Respondents, Out of the B ox qualitative research, D ecember 2006 The tracking research showed that IRN-BRU scored more highly than Coke when it came to being ‘a brand that makes you feel good’ and a brand that ‘has really 5 6 enjoyable advertising’ More than any other soft drink, IRN-BRU is felt to be “ours” by Scots. We wanted to celebrate the way that IRN-BRU uplifts Scotland and reinforce the feel good factor in being a Scottish IRN-BRU drinker. We encapsulated our strategy in the advertising proposition: “IRN-BRU: Uplifting Scotland” 5 6 The Leith Agency qualitative, Jan 2005 -7- Managing “Scottishness” We knew that ‘Uplifting Scotland’ was going to lead to ideas which played the Scottish card very strongly. This posed another challenge. Just because an ad for a Scottish audience is very Scottish doesn’t mean that it will automatically win hearts and minds. Being too stereotypically Scottish (all tartan and clichés) can backfire. We needed to tap into how Scots feel about themselves, and IRN-BRU, in a way that prompted identification and approval. Research showed that our audience felt that IRN-BRU advertising was very Scottish. And yet, most of the last decades' ads don't feature Scottish accents or settings. The fact is that the advertising was liked because it seemed Scottish at heart. It appealed to the way that Scots liked to see themselves – independent, don’t take themselves too seriously, funny, enjoy a laugh and down-to-earth. These characteristics formed the basis of the brand personally we wanted our new advertising to convey. The creative breakthrough Initially, we were inclined to put the desire for brand ‘stature’ and ‘Scottishness’ together to develop big “we’ll be coming down the road…” production numbers. They were big on nationalism but lacked the wit and cleverness at the heart of a great IRNBRU ad. We re-looked at how IRN-BRU is central to life in Scotland. As a genuine fabric brand it is drunk by many types of people on many different occasions. What we needed was a device to tie all these people and occasions in a compelling way. We explored the potential of tapping into Scotland's rich heritage of emotionally rousing verse. This was the breakthrough we needed. In fact, the verse which seemed most promising came from south of the border. -8- IF you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet look too good, nor talk too wise As an embryonic idea, “if” sounded very interesting. The hard part was to do the idea justice by selecting the right scenarios and associated words. IRN-BRU ads are always witty and research had confirmed that getting the nuances right was going to be crucial to “If's” success. “IRN-BRU ads make Scottish people proud – especially when the humour has a localised feel” Out of the B ox research (March 2007) After many re-writes, and discussions about what it is to be a Scot who loves their IRNBRU, the following re-working of 'If' became the agreed script. -9- Screen grabs from TV ad: - 10 - TV script - 11 - - 12 - - 13 - Integrated activity The campaign launched on 12 May on STV and Channel 4 and a week later, in cinemas throughout Scotland. A media package was created to maintain brand saliency amongst a broad audience and reinforce the emotional connection with IRN-BRU’s heartland. So the media agency (phd north) aimed for populist programmes like the Saturday Night Project, Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway and the Champion’s League coverage. TV gave us the reach we needed and cinema and online advertising were chosen to ensure that we reached as many as possible of our core, more affluent 25 – 44 year olds. The brand advertising was also supported by a 2 litre bottle 'glass' promotion using a 10 second ad which also utilised verse. - 14 - Advertising and 'brand health' results The “if” advertising worked as intended. Independent tracking (by LVQ) showed that for spontaneous content recall, the two most popular references were ‘makes you 7 proud to be Scottish’ and ‘makes you feel phenomenal’ . When cross-referenced with verified ad awareness, over 70% of those who had seen the ad agreed that it ‘made you proud to be Scottish’. The ad was also felt to have a much broader appeal than previous recent IRN-BRU advertising. Enjoyment scores for “If” were significantly higher than for the previous summer’s Goth ad. And in terms of stand out, “If” scored more highly than any IRN-BRU campaign since the year 2000. The number of people claiming to be more interested in the brand after having seen the advertising stood at almost twice the previous highest score, recorded in 2007. And the number of people who felt they were more likely to drink the product having seen the advertising exceeded the previous highest score recorded in 2005 for the first ‘phenomenal’ ad, ‘Bobby’. The ad made IRN-BRU more front of mind; a small but significant shift in spontaneous brand awareness was recorded in the wake of the campaign (75% to 77%). When it came to propensity to drink, the tracking research showed that we had exceeded the 60% target measure of “I really fancy an IRN-BRU”. (We reached 62%). The research also showed a significant increase in those who had drunk IRN-BRU in the last 4 weeks from 69% in May to 74% in July. This shift was most pronounced amongst less frequent soft drink drinkers. 7 LVQ advertising tracking research, July 2008 - 15 - Importantly, the tracking research shows that there was a significant shift in the number of “adorers” and “adopters” in the wake of the TV ad. An impressive achievement. Sales success Despite a terrible summer weather-wise, IRN-BRU managed to buck market trends in terms of sales. By December 2008, IRN-BRU was one of the only ‘other flavoured carbonates’ not in decline whereas traditional brands such as Lilt, Sprite, Dr Pepper and for the first time 8 ever, Fanta, were in decline. This when the overall category continued to decline . In fact, by October 2008, IRN-BRU had already recorded the largest absolute growth of 9 carbonates brands in Scotland . 8 9 Nielsen Scantrack data, December 2008 Nielsen, October 2008 - 16 - Looking at the three month period from July, August and September 2008, IRN-BRU recorded a massive 13% increase in sales in Scotland versus a measley 1.1% from Coca-Cola. In 2008 as a whole, with a powerful combination of the summer TV ad, “If”, the glass promotion and the repeat of the well-loved Snowman ad at Christmas, achieved an 10 overall brand value growth of 8% versus a target of 4% in a market in which value 11 was absolutely flat . Moreover, AG Barr achieved their highest ever market share of 12 the carbonates market . Conclusion Despite extremely tough market conditions and particularly dismal weather during the crucial summer sales period, IRN-BRU managed to enhance its fortunes in Scotland due to its powerful “If” TV advertising. This ad, a strategic and creative departure from preceding summer campaigns, captured the public's imagination and strengthened their connection with the brand. 10 AG Barr Internal sales AC Nielsen Total GB Total Flavoured carbonates MAT to 27/12/08 vs 29/12/07 12 Nielsen Scantrack data, December 2008 11 - 17 -