Blog posts tagged Brand ownership

The wisdom is in the crowds – hic!

If you cast your mind back to the Budget in late March, you’ll remember there was a particularly unpopular proposal to raise the tax duty on cider by 10 per cent. In Bristol (where at least part of the Marketing Donut is based), the response to this suggestion almost amounted to civil disorder - and we celebrated mightily when the motion wasn’t passed.

Whether it was the result of people power or the simple fact that there wasn’t time to push the proposal through Parliament, we west country types considered this a major victory. Cider is a way of life in these parts and the threat to make it more costly is not something that will be forgotten quickly, as this picture taken on the day of the leaders’ debate in the city last week demonstrates.

There’s a lot more life in cider than you might think. We’re not just rural hayseeds up this way, but a surprisingly inventive bunch. Take local cider producer, Brothers Cider, who allow their customers to drive their brand through crowdsourced products.

Consumers usually vote with their hard-earned cash. Here, they’ve designed a product themselves. At last year’s Glastonbury festival, revellers mixed all the flavours sold by Brothers - Festival Pear Cider; Strawberry, Lemon and Toffee Apple — into an exotic cocktail.

Sensing an opportunity, Brothers turned to Eric — their ‘doctor of yeasts and fermentation’— and asked him to create a more refined and commercially viable version. In the same week that Tesco launched the curious chilli-flavoured cola as a summer beverage, Brothers unveiled Tutti Frutti Pear Cider.

We caught up with Matthew from Brothers to find out more about what makes them tick.

You’ve used surveys in the past to gather information on what customers think of your products. Have the results led to any tweaks in the recipes or suggested future flavour possibilities?

“Fortunately, there were no tweaks required in any of the recipes following our annual survey. Though it did show our consumer base is open to new ideas and flavours.”

Are there any other flavour suggestions from your customers that you have discounted for being just that little bit too ‘out there’?

“We welcome suggestions on our website and collate them together for our customers to judge in our annual survey. Understandably, Bubblegum flavour was not a popular suggestion at all!”

Do you think the ‘cider tax’ will rear its ugly head again at the next Budget, irrespective of which party is elected?

“It’s clear cider duty has now become an election issue and it is good that the associated issues are now being debated so openly and passionately.  Whoever has the keys to 11 Downing Street after 6 May will have to address the cider duty structure.”

What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned about marketing activity since Brothers began?

“The advent of social media has turned the traditional marketing communications model on its head. Now the consumer owns the brand.”

Thanks, Matthew – and good luck with the Tutti Frutti!