Introduction

Evolving has been closely associated with the development of the Wells Bombardier brand for over 10 years. During this time the brand has seen sustained growth and is now the No. 6 Premium Draught Ale nationally (source: Nielsen / PubTrack). Known as "Drink of England", the brand proudly supports English rugby but is perhaps best known for its strong association with St George's Day. In a major new sponsorship Wells Bombardier has become the official beer of English Heritage 2008 further cementing Bombardier’s core brand values by aligning itself with an organisation whose Englishness credentials are unquestioned.

Objectives

Evolving supports the brand across a wide range of tactical and strategic activity, this includes sales promotion, POS design, product and packaging development. The central drivers behind all activity are:

Delivery

The marketing strategy for Wells Bombardier encompasses on-line, off-line and fully integrated solutions. The 2008 St. George’s Day promotion is an example of how these disciplines work together to achieve both maximum impact and a measurable response to the activity.

St. George's Day 2008 / English Heritage Promotion
2008 saw Wells Bombardier produce its biggest-ever promotional kit, which was distributed to over 4500 pubs across England. The association with English Heritage was a key factor with the kits including ‘2 for 1’ tickets to English Heritage sites as well as promotional items such as posters, bar displays, table talkers, bunting and hats to help the St George’s Day celebrations go with a swing!

Online activity included a poll carried out on the Bombardier website to find England’s Ultimate Icon. This resulted in 2,000 people taking part in the run up to St George’s Day with the results being announced on 23rd April. The campaign was used to gain coverage in national newspapers, radio stations and on programmes such as GMTV and Sky News.

Results

The success of the St George’s Day activity is indisputable: over a quarter of a million more pints were sold on the 24th April than last year. In total, the week of St George’s Day saw sales of Wells Bombardier soar by over 50% compared with the same week last year. Moreover high levels of sales were sustained in the period following this with distribution increasing beyond forecasted figures.

Early indications from the trade is very positive too with the responders to a survey answering the top rating to questions regarding both the kit and performance of the brand in their outlets.

Such projects continue to deliver success to the Wells Bombardier range and Evolving's work in brand-extension for the off-trade - creating brand variants 'Burning Gold' and 'Satanic Mills' - saw the launch of Burning Gold rated as the most successful bottled ale launch in 2007. (Source: NC Neilson/ScanTrack)