In July, Stowford Press Cider, the official cider of the English cricket team, launched an online game – ‘Message In A Bottle’ – offering fans a chance to win Ashes tickets.
Challenged to a social media ‘Name The Player’ quiz (based on a graphic/picture clue), the successful players were entered into a draw to win VIP tickets for the 5th Test of The Ashes.
The campaign, built around a Facebook app was hosted on the Stowford Press Facebook page.
The game was also amplified across Stowford’s Twitter feed.
How well do you know your cricket players – past and present, names and nicknames, test your knowledge here to #win https://t.co/aGDPOXxigc
— Stowford Press (@Stowford_Press) June 18, 2015
Quiz clue. England’s cricketing knight in shining armour, played 17 Test Matches & 100 ODIs http://t.co/96hn1JwFX6 pic.twitter.com/MqWPqRygti
— Stowford Press (@Stowford_Press) June 18, 2015
Quiz clue Captain of the England Test team, always cooks up a storm with his brilliant batting http://t.co/Iw7DBQCMk0 pic.twitter.com/QX1ROqDiGp
— Stowford Press (@Stowford_Press) June 18, 2015
The quiz was made demanding with clues such as ‘Do you know who “The Pigeon” is?’ in order to encourage social clue sharing.
The most successful players were also promoted across the brand’s social platforms.
Our final Message on a Bottle winner has been announced, thanks to everyone who entered http://t.co/61qxvAfcFh #Ashes pic.twitter.com/KvvcrCgu9D
— Stowford Press (@Stowford_Press) August 3, 2015
With a brief to leverage the brand’s rights by creating ‘interactive cricket content that would attract traffic to the Stowford Press site and encourage people to engage with the brand on Facebook and Twitter’, the game was created by social marketing agency ArtScience.
The objective was to both boost consumer awareness of both the brand and its ECB association and drive consumer engagement with the brand.
In parallel, supporting the social media game, the official ECB cider also ran an ongoing #AshesTrivia social strand across Twitter through the test series.
If you haven't already, check out our #cricket quiz for a chance to win #Ashestickets – it's closing midnight tonight!
— Stowford Press (@Stowford_Press) July 5, 2015
‘For cricket fans, The Ashes is the sporting contest of the summer and we wanted to dial up the excitement with this promotion,’ outlines ArtScience executive creative director Pete Rope.
‘We created ‘Message on a Bottle’, a game where players work out the name of a cricketer from pictogram clues on the label of a Stowford Press Cider bottle. There are new clues every two weeks for eight weeks, so people have four chances to play for those VIP Ashes tickets.’
Comment
The cricket quiz activation was launched in parallel with a more general £2.5m Stowford Press marketing campaign – ‘Effortlessly Refreshing’.
The general campaign, by agency HRG, is led by a set of four creative executions all also intended to reinforcing the brand’s premium position and highlighting its British heritage.
This advertising campaign is Stowford Press’ biggest ever investment in outdoor media and the outdoor phase – with six, 48 and 96-sheet posters and heavyweight London Underground cross-track ad executions – links to the Ashes work.
Effortlessly Refreshing also spans all major UK supermarkets and includes car park advertising and point-of-sale, retailer-targeted work that sees ‘shelf barkers’ and ‘shelf fins’ to reinforce the brand’s “premium credentials and its true British character”.
‘We are extremely excited to be launching our new Effortlessly Refreshing campaign, which perfectly captures the spirit of Westons Cider and our commitment to continue to provide UK consumers with authentic cider that is not only truly refreshing but also tastes great,’ commented Stowford Pres senior brand manager Sally McKinnon.
‘Forming part of a £2.5m investment behind the brand, the campaign will form the backbone of our 2015 advertising campaign.’
The new campaign was further supported in on-trade outlets via branded glassware in both pint and half-pint sizes) designed to mesh with the font badge design with a reverse that includes the brand story.
Owned by family business Westons Cider, which has been making traditional English cider in Herefordshire since 1880., Stowford is part of Westons broad range of ciders.
It was back in April 2012 that Stowford Press announced that it had signed a three-year ECB sponsorship deal positioning it as the Official Cider of England Cricket.
In that time it was the biggest marketing deal signed by Westons and was partly based on the perceived synergy between the brand and the property – both being ‘steeped in tradition and quality’.
As cricket is the UK’s premier summer sport and commands a global audience this sponsorship, it is seen as a platform to promote Stowford Press during its busiest time of the year to botbh a Uk and international audience.
At the time the deal was signed, Helen Thomas, managing director of Westons Cider, said: ‘We are delighted that Stowford Press has been selected to be The Official Cider of England Cricket. The Westons Cider ethos centres around tradition, quality and heritage and with cricket being deeply rooted in England’s sporting history, we feel the association sits perfectly.’
The cider brand also recently further extended its sponsorship portfolio by becaming shirt sponsor of Gloucester RFU.
We couldn't be happier to announce that we're now an official shirt sponsor of @gloucesterrugby pic.twitter.com/lQuM0nDkR1
— Stowford Press (@Stowford_Press) August 13, 2015
Links
Stowford Press Website:
http://www.westons-cider.co.uk/
Stowford Press Twitter:
https://twitter.com/stowford_press
Stowford Press Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/StowfordPress/app_376381949230069
ECB Website:
