Results and Effectiveness

The twigged boxes got Monteith’s all over the news and across social media. Radio stations took calls from drinkers who had found twigs in their cider packaging and Monteith’s call centre was inundated with enquiries. The goal of the campaign was to raise awareness of Monteith’s use of freshly crushed fruit, not concentrate. Every time the twigs were discussed in the media, this message was reiterated. This directly influenced the jump in Monteith’s cider sales. Over the campaign period, Monteith’s Crushed Cider sales increased by 32% and Monteith’s completely sold out of their 12 packs of cider.

Creative Execution

We slipped real apple tree twigs into each box of Monteith’s cider. The twigs were taken from the actual orchards Monteith’s harvest their apples and pears. This ‘mistake’ spread our simple message: the fruit in Monteith’s cider comes from a tree, not a can. After two weeks, and with public interest about the mystery twigs at its peak, a carefully crafted apology was published in the paper. Apologies also appeared in the form of patched billboards, online banners and on-pack stickers. Every apology became the perfect platform to spread our ‘fresh fruit’ message.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

The cider market had been flooded with cheap ciders made from concentrated fruit syrup. Monteith’s wanted drinkers to know that their cider contains fresh fruit, not concentrated fruit syrup like their competitors. The target market was men and women over the age of 18. They loved Monteith’s, New Zealand’s original cider brand, but were being lured away by cheaper brands offering lower price points. The target market assumed all cider contained real fruit. They needed to know this was not the case. This fresh fruit claim was something only Monteith’s could make.