Otherway Refreshes Cider Brand Strongbow
by Rudy Sanchez on 03/16/2023 | 2 Minute Read
Strongbow is a brand of dry cider founded in 1960. Now a part of Heineken International, Strongbow is one of the most popular brands of dry cider globally.
Recently, the cider maker partnered with creative studio Otherway to refresh the brand to increase relevancy with its current customers, especially with the cider industry's recent slowdown in sales. The new look combines recognizable but updated Strongbow elements, adding vibrancy through a new, bright color palette.
“It’s been over 60 years since Strongbow launched. Since then, the audience has massively changed as drinkers get younger and more diverse,” Jono Holt, founder of Otherway, said. “With the introduction of Dark Fruit, Rosé, and the new Tropical, Strongbow is no longer the brand for older men. The brief was to update the brand to reflect Strongbow’s drinkers today and create a modern interpretation of them inspired by the brand's heritage.”
The new system revamps the cans with different colorways inspired by their respective flavor. Original cider retains the gold and black palette with an added lighter tan color and a more cider-like yellow. The deep blue from blackberries and currents gets utilized on cans of Dark Fruit, while Cloudy Apple’s green and Tropical’s orange are also similarly reminiscent of fruit.
Strongbow’s archer emblem is placed prominently on the front of the cans and keeps the brand recognizable on the shelf in its new, colorful refresh. “When you look at Original’s can in the new design, it’s still black and gold. Or actually, more gold and black,” Holt said. “The design elements used on the can are also nothing new, only evolved and applied in new ways.
"There’s always apprehension to change, but Strongbow is the category leader in cider, and its important leaders lead," Holt added. "The cider market is in decline and needs to evolve to stay relevant to new drinkers. Big brands can no longer sit around and do nothing as the world changes around them.”
Otherway’s refresh of the Strongbow follows the brand’s introduction of Ultra Dark Fruit last summer. Ultra Dark Fruit is a cider with fewer calories and lower alcohol volume than its other flavors sold in slimline cans, bridging the gap between Strongbow’s original ciders and hard seltzers.
The brand refresh will find support via a £20 million national campaign in the UK while also launching new flavors later this year.