At the turn of the century, InBev-owned Boddingtons, the self-styled 'Cream of Manchester', was the toast of the UK's ale sector. According to ACNielsen, in 2001 it accounted for a staggering 44% share of the off-trade ale market.
It's a very different story now. Boddingtons has plummeted to number six in the overall ale and stout market, according to Mintel, behind rivals John Smith's, Tetley's, Worthington's and Caffrey's, with a paltry 3% market share.
It has been a rapid fall from grace. For a spell in the 90s the brand seemed invincible, aided in large part by its Bartle Bogle Hegarty-created ads. One execution that ran in 1997 featured an athlete chasing a Boddingtons ice-cream van; it famously launched the TV career of Mancunian model Melanie Sykes, who uttered the immortal line, 'Do you want a Flake in that, love?'
Though more controversial, the series of ads featuring an animated transgender cow, called Graham, maintained a strong profile for Boddingtons. The 'Graham' creative ran from 1999 to 2002, albeit attracting complaints for allegedly promoting bestiality, homosexuality and drug-taking.
In 2002, a watershed year in the brand's history, Boddingtons reached a high point with its sponsorship of the Manchester Commonwealth Games, but a campaign targeting women with the strapline 'It's a bit gorgeous' fell on deaf ears. Crucially, Boddingtons marketers also chose to drop the 'creaminess' theme.
Sales began to dip and InBev opted to relaunch the ale with extra malt to enhance the flavour. However, the decision to move Boddingtons brewery from its Stangeways site in Manchester, where it had operated since 1778, to South Wales, axing 60 jobs in the process, caused severe PR damage.
An attempt to reconnect with its Mancunian heritage in 2005, through an ad featuring a farmer 'milking' a pint of Boddingtons to the sound of Manchester band Happy Mondays, was publicly denounced as 'cynical' and disrespectful to those who lost their jobs.
Over the past two years, InBev has seemed unsure what to do with the brand, pumping greater resources into its lager brands Stella Artois and Beck's.
So where does Boddingtons go now? We asked Matthew Langley, marketing manager at cider firm Brothers Drinks, and Andrew McGuinness, partner at Carling's creative agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay, for their advice.
DIAGNOSIS 1 - MATTHEW LANGLEY, MARKETING MANAGER, BROTHERS DRINKS
Boddingtons' great strength is its flavour profile. It is a lighter ale with a smooth mouth-feel that is more accessible to consumers used to drinking lager.
Boddingtons used to be positioned as a beer with a distinctive Mancunian accent and swagger. However, in 2004 the bulk of production was moved to South Wales and Glasgow, with a smaller cask operation sub-contracted to Manchester brewer Hydes.
The consequence of this decision was that the primary compelling unique selling point used to build the brand in the 90s was removed at a stroke, and the brand appears to have floundered in InBev's massive portfolio ever since.
This comes amid huge growth in the single bottled ale category, where taste and craftsmanship are the watchwords.
Boddingtons has lost some of its provenance and distinctively Mancunian accent since production moved out of the city. This comes at a time when consumers are increasingly seeking genuine heritage from drinks products and is something that could have been a major selling point for the beer.
REMEDY
- Move production back to Manchester or expand the operation at Hydes.
- Repackage it in a glass pint bottle and reposition it as a premium bottled ale for the multiple off-trade.
- Use the glass bottle to regain presence in the on-trade - a 12-bottle case, rather than an 88-pint keg, gives the brand the opportunity to prove itself.
- Start a campaign to get Mancunians to welcome Boddingtons back home.
DIAGNOSIS 2 - ANDREW MCGUINNESS, PARTNER, BEATTIE MCGUINNESS BUNGAY
With market share falling from 40% eight years ago to just 3% now, the 'Cream of Manchester' has gone sour. Why? The brand has suffered from the convergence of three key trends.
First, as Britain has become foodier, we've seen a move away from what are perceived to be mass, 'manufactured' ales to 'real ale', seeing comparatively niche brands such as Old Speckled Hen growing supermarket sales by 28% in the year.
Second, reflecting the shift in the market, there has been a dramatic reduction in marketing support. Gone are the wonderful Bartle Bogle Hegarty-created press executions that built the brand. Over the past 12 months there has been little on-trade support, and less than 拢400,000 has been spent on advertising.
Third, a softer but no less important change: since the acquisition by InBev, the soul of the brand has been slowly eroded, most visibly by the cessation of production in the Strangeways Brewery. Consumers 'smell' these changes and, in a market where authenticity and provenance remain key, they punish you for it.
REMEDY
- Help drinkers discover the story behind the brand. A simple website would be a start.
- Use the timeless imagery produced by BBH in packaging and with the on-trade - they're a great, fully paid-for asset.
- Tap into the expanding premium ales trade in the multiples with a premium variant - organic cream anyone?
- Find innovative, low-cost ways to introduce the brand to a new generation - like the iPint has done for Carling.