case studies

jacques fruit cider

Scottish & Newcastle launched Jacques Cider in the summer of 2006 as the latest innovation at the time in its growing cider portfolio in an aim to compete with their rival Magners’ massive popularity. The product is aimed at the 25-34 year old female market and is marketed as a more refreshing alternative to wine.

the brief

LEWIS were approached to develop the Jacques brand website in late 2007 to provide the brand with a digital platform through which to promote the brand and begin online engagement with consumers.

The Jacques brand style itself had been well established through the product presentation and numerous offline advertising and trade promotional materials that had been developed since the product launch.  The challenge for LEWIS was to take an established offline style and translate this into a dynamic and engaging web experience which gave equal precedence to the product and the customer.

our idea

Online branding: 

It was felt that the website should be ‘themed' and take users through an online journey of the brand philosophy.  The theme of the website was developed in conjunction with Clarity Marketing and was decided to be based around the idea of "sharing".  This seemed to align with the premise of the Jacques Cider brand which is very much weighted towards the idea of customers drinking the product at social occasions or outdoor events.  The website imagery, content and functionality were all developed with this theme in mind.

Customer Relationship Development:

It goes without saying but a major aim of the Jacques website was to allow customers to engage with the brand and to become involved with its activities.  LEWIS were keen to place customers at the heart of the website and actually encourage them to cultivate the content of the site on an ongoing basis after launch.  From that it was decided that user generated content would be an important aspect of the development of the site.  As such, the Jacques Friends section of the site was created with the idea that users would be able to upload their own photographs of Jacques events that they had attended or, alternatively, of their own social events where Jacques cider had featured as a major part!  Users are asked to register with the site to upload content and create their own albums, a familiar notion for young people who interact with sites such as Facebook and Bebo on a regular basis.

The events section of the site is closely related to the Jacques Friends initiative.  Visitors can search through a multi-option database to find events that Jacques are holding promotional activities at or view events that have already taken place - linked back to the photo gallery related to that particular event.  The online initiative is highlighted at these promotional events and those that take part are welcomed to visit the site afterwards to view images of the day.  To encourage a viral element, the site contains a "send to a friend" ability which allows users to automatically forward links to particular images in the gallery to other people who may be interested in seeing them. 

the outcome

The Jacques Cider website has been launched to much positivity from the client.  It has provided them with an valuable and marketable online presence which allows for the promotion of much of their offline initiatives more effectively.  With the advent of their summer events this year and the recent launch of the Fruits des Bois version they are eagerly anticipating even more success for the website.