Tag line still sells cider like nothing on earth

31 August 2014 - 02:31 By Staff Reporter
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THE Hunters slogan, Refreshes Like Nothing On Earth, was never translated to the "supernatural" or "extraterrestrial" positioning JWalter Thompson sold to Stellenbosch Farmers Winery in 1988.

THE Hunters slogan, Refreshes Like Nothing On Earth, was never translated to the "supernatural" or "extraterrestrial" positioning JWalter Thompson sold to Stellenbosch Farmers Winery in 1988.

However, by dint of its blunt bully-shove advertising style, Hunters now owns what its marketing honchos call "the category generic" - which is refreshment. It also established Hunters as a pure cider, not a half-baked "twister".

By the time SFW merged with Anton Rupert's Distillers Corporation in 2000 to form Distell, Hunters was a superstar brand. Today, it is sold in 38 countries and is the world's second-biggest cider.

Although SABMiller holds nearly a third of Distell's stock, premium-beer drinkers remain a hot target for Hunters. Already, Distell sells as much Hunters as SABMiller does Castle Lite.

Distell's results presentation on Monday noted that Hunters was "a star performer" that helped to boost operating profit 23% in the year to June. Much of that came from Ghana, Angola and Nigeria.

The custodians of the Hunters brand are determined to stick with the product's marketing promise.

Matt Riley, head of strategy at 140BBDO (formerly Berry Bush), said: "We've never tried to be anything that we're not ... Cut through the rubbish, be real, be authentic: we only do one thing and that's refresh."

Distell's general manager of ciders, Gillian Skinner, said Hunters easily held its own in a ready-to-drink market overrun by alcopop fads. First, because it is a natural cider as opposed to a flavoured spirit or ale "cooler". Second, it delivers double-digit annual growth in volumes because it maintains its original, simple message.

"While creative platforms and expressions have changed over the years, our core DNA has not. We are and have always been the only natural cider that well and truly refreshes like nothing on earth."

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