Time and some money add gravitas to cider's image

On first viewing, the new Bulmers television ad could be a slick corporate promotion for a software company or perhaps an international campaign for a major player in the telecoms industry.

It opens with triple Olympic boxing gold medallist Teofilo Stevenson and features several international experts from renowned Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa to English composer Michael Nyman, who are filmed on location doing what they do for a living.

All pay homage to the past masters in their professions. Scientist and Hubble spacecraft collaborator Dr Jeff Hester encapsulates the romantic and visionary sentiments expressed by all in his voiceover: "If I can see further than you, it is because I am standing on the shoulders of giants."

The final shot is the familiar Bulmers logo with no pack shot, no pouring action, no pub scene. Cider has come a long way in 10 years.

"Historically there was a very negative image of cider," says Mr Pat Kierans, Bulmers marketing manager, "but our research shows that that is very much gone now, especially among the 18- to 25-year-olds who are too young even to know about the negative image."

Cider, he says, is now a one in 10 drink with the same consumer profile as premium lager. "If you put the beer and cider market together - and by that I'm including all beers - one in 10 drinks sold will be cider," says Mr Kierans.

The television ad was devised by Youngs Advertising and shot in locations that include Japan, Cuba, Spain and Kilkenny. "The message in this ad is really the same as the message we've been communicating for the past five years," says Mr Kierans. "Since the `nothing added but time' campaign five years ago, we've been concentrating on the hand-crafted nature of the product and respect for tradition and heritage."

Sales of Bulmers, a Showerings brand, have grown on average 20 per cent every year for the past four years, an impressive figure particularly in the drinks industry. It is particularly strong in the pub trade where it controls 90 per cent of the cider business.

Youngs creatives must be congratulated for avoiding the usual suspects and assembling a cast of interesting characters, most of whom would be well known in their own spheres but little known outside. Most would never have been approached to endorse a product before and apparently none balked at the idea of advertising a cider.

To demonstrate their approach to the product, the agency showed them previous Bulmers advertising including the award-winning Jules Leotard ad. After that the biggest problem was scheduling the multi-location shoot.

According to Mr Kierans, the advertisement will be "omnipresent" on our screens for the next two years and this year Showerings's media spend will be £2 million.