Westons Cider (H Weston & Sons Ltd), the Herefordshire based cider maker and brand owner, has awarded its media planning and buying account, in excess of £3 million, to m/SIX.
The family-owned and run company has been crafting cider in Herefordshire since 1880. Westons Cider has ambitious plans for growth and is increasing investment to support and grow the business by +40% by 2023, to reach in excess of £85m turnover.
Westons unveiled a new corporate brand identity in October last year to reflect the significant changes the business has undergone over the past seven years. m/SIX was chosen for its willingness to act as a true partner and help the brands to achieve its business goals. They will take over the account from incumbent agency Universal McCann (Bristol).
m/SIX recognized the high-degree of crossover and low customer brand loyalty Westons face in the drinks category. Under the agency’s new philosophy, the strategy will focus on the way cider consumers ‘flow’ across fragmented media and the wider digital landscape.
Crucially, the agency demonstrated a more innovative approach to TV planning and a smarter use of tools to deliver more effective campaigns. TV will fit into the agency’s overall media strategy, focused on developing one continuous brand conversation across multiple channels. Growth will come from broadening brand reach, building awareness and attracting new and current customers, ensuring media strategies adapt to audience flow changes.
Dan Keat, Director of Investment at m/SIX, said “The Westons portfolio of brands have a heritage in abundance, but face a challenge to tell their story to new and existing customers in a very competitive market. At m/SIX we have a strong history of helping brands successfully navigate a rapidly-evolving media landscape, so we are delighted to be working with Westons and look forward to helping them take their business to the next level.”
Tim Williams, Brand & Media Manager at Westons Cider, said “Weston's investment into brands continues to grow, and as part of this, we are significantly increasing the amounts we spend on media. It’s very exciting to be working with an agency who understood our business immediately and were able to show how we could achieve our broader brand and business objectives, and not just buy media. While we increase our use of traditional media to support our core established brands, it’s been enlightening to kick off a number of projects with m/SIX, that will help us communicate effectively with the drinkers and shoppers of tomorrow”.
