Available from mid-July on draught, the “low in sweetness and easy-to-drink” 4.8% ABV pear cider will be supported by a brand redesign. A new multi-media campaign will start in August.
Darryl Hinksman, head of on-trade customer marketing at Heineken, said the cider category is still under-developed in the on-trade, with a 10% share of the long alcoholic drinks market, compared to 21% in the off-trade.
Hinksman added: “As the clear market leader, Strongbow is best placed to drive growth in the category, and Strongbow Pear will help licensees to try and capitalise on a major opportunity to build incremental sales.”
New fonts, PoS and bespoke glassware will be available to pubs. Heineken said the product launch is part of a plan to give Strongbow a new and “more universal” brand positioning.
Strongbow is the leading on-trade draught cider by some distance. However, according to CGA Strategy, like-for-like draught sales dipped by 1.3% to £579m (MAT to 21 January 2012), against a rise of 14% for the total cider market in the on-trade in the same period.