Here comes the summer

Festivals get a wake up call

What?: As the festival season draws near, brand involvement starts to heat up:

The Gaymer Cider Company is launching Gaymer’s Grassroots Gigs, which takes acts – including The Futureheads, Young Knives, Reverend & The Makers, and Mystery Jets – back to play small gigs in their hometown. The brand has also secured pouring rights at the Reading and Leeds Festivals and key music venues, such as the London Astoria and Manchester Apollo. The campaign is part of a £4M music marketing programme set to target 650,000 festival goers. Gaymer’s is also the official cider of the Glastonbury Festival

Caffeine boost product Pro-Plus, which aims to aid those who “like to burn the candle at both ends”, has rolled out an online promotion whereby you can win tickets to this year’s V Festival. The campaign comes in the form of an online game which relies on similar button-mashing skills as used in the Guitar Hero franchise. The campaign will last for six weeks and hopes to significantly raise brand and product awareness amongst the 18-30 demographic. Each winner will get their own four-man tent in the VIP camping area at the festival, access to the VIP hospitality area, and an exclusive Pro-Plus goodie bag.

So what?: Cider has been bolstered by a major shift in brand perception. No longer is it the drink of choice for school children and the homeless; suddenly it’s become the summer tipple of the well-to-do. At least it would have been if the UK had actually had a summer last year (with many festivals a literal washout, cider profits didn’t meet expectations). This year, pear cider in particular is seen as the great white hope that can crack the difficult female alcohol market, and Gaymer’s is putting some heavyweight music might behind its campaign. Let’s hope cider doesn’t go back to its combine harvester roots.

Pro-Plus attempts to capture both the hardcore festival revelers and those poor people staying in all summer to finish Grand Theft Auto IV with its latest music game campaign. However, can the more medicinal Pro-Plus manage to gain the same music association as the major caffeine drinks brands?

“What I like about the Carling Grassroots gigs, I mean the Gaymer’s Homecoming, I mean… Aw shucks, you take my point, right? Finding your angle isn’t easy in music, and the concept of Gaymer’s Grassroots is being executed with polish, commitment and spirit, but, well… It’s all a bit Groundhog Day.”
Anthony Swede, Creative Planner, FRUKT

www.dont-miss-out.co.uk
www.gaymersmusic.com