How We Made Strongbow The Most Inclusive Cider Brand

The team at Purple Goat started working with Strongbow a few years ago, and we soon set the ambition to make it the most inclusive cider brand. Since then, we’ve been on a fantastic journey working with the Heineken team on internal and external projects to develop their inclusion journey.

For this episode of The Purple Goat Podcast, our Global Client Director, Dom Hyams, sat down with Strongbow’s Brand Manager, Josie Clark, to discuss all the work we’ve done together and what it’s meant for Strongbow.

A really powerful episode with lots of fantastic insights.

And if you, like Strongbow, want to become a more inclusive brand, make sure to check out our inclusive marketing services and contact us today!

[Transcript below]

Trailer (00:00)

Josie Clark:

So, we set the ambition to become the most inclusive cider brand. And actually you’ve got to be really honest about it and ask for help where it’s needed. We needed to make lasting change. 

Dom Hyams:

The things we’re doing together are touching in load of different places. We’ve done sort of macro insights, we’ve done qualitative insight, we’ve did consultancy across creative, we’ve done activation on social, we’ve done research projects. 

Josie Clark:

Yeah, well, I think the most important part is you guys make us approach it from a real insight-first point of view, and really listening to the communities and the challenges they face, and building an insight around whatever we’re going to build from that, whether it is activation or a wider project. Insight, but then consistency is key. So making sure that you do keep supporting again and again, year after year, and taking step by step rather than showing up one year in a big way and then not following that through. 

Intro (00:57):

Dom Hyams:

Welcome back to The Purple Goat Podcast. On today’s episode, we have got Josie Clark from Strongbow, who we’ve been working with over the last few years to create the most inclusive cider brand in the world. We’ve loved working with Strongbow and I had a great conversation with Josie today where she talks about all the work that we’ve been doing over the years, how that’s impacted the work that Strongbow are doing, and what she’s looking forward to looking into the future. So stay tuned and see you soon.

Hello Josie and welcome to The Purple Goat Podcast. 

Josie Clark:

Hi Dom. Thank you for having me. 

Dom Hyams:

Firstly, thank you so much for coming. I’m really excited for you to be here, for you to help us share the work that we’ve been doing with Strongbow after over the last few years. Now, by way of introduction, would you mind just giving us a brief summary of who you are, what you do at Heineken, and maybe just a brief overview of what we’ve done together over the last few years? 

Josie Clark:

Yeah, of course. So yeah, my name’s Josie Clark. I’m Brand Manager for Strongbow. I started on the brand in 2023, so pretty much right when we started working with yourselves, and hit a massive brand relaunch.

So what we’ve done with you guys, it’s honestly been such an amazing journey. So with Strongbow, we relaunched in 2023 and we really kind of looked at the brand and thought we need to make ourselves a bit more relevant to our broader audience and become a bit of a cider brand for everyone. So with yourselves, we set the ambition to become the most inclusive cider brand.

And from there we’ve kind of done project after project focusing internally on ourselves as a company, as well as also all of our ATL comms to start making them more inclusive. We’ve done things like sponsored Brighton Pride and have a stage which was all about inclusivity and celebrating obviously the community. We’ve done things like big projects in our pubs, and we’ve got so much more to come in 2025. 

Dom Hyams:

What do you think was almost like the reason why this kind of worked, why it came about or the reason why it was a natural fit to work for Strongbow as a brand? 

Josie Clark:

Well, I think when we started to go on this big journey from our rebrand perspective, we knew that we probably needed a bit of help. And actually you’ve got to be really honest about it and ask for help where it’s needed. We needed to make lasting change.

And actually yourselves, obviously a brilliant agency in the inclusivity space, we just felt like it was a natural partnership. And at the time we had our own product, Strongbow Ultra, which also had the purple goat. So it obviously felt like a natural fit in that perspective, but I think yourselves and Rach, who’s our Cider Director, reached out and we just built a great relationship and there was just great energy between the agencies and ourselves. So you felt like a perfect fit, really.

Dom Hyams:

Amazing. I’ll pay you later. Thank you.

And then, I suppose, in the work that you’ve been working on, what’s been your favourite aspect of those different bits?

I know, from what you said, the things we’re doing together are touching a load of different places. We’ve done sort of macro insights, we’ve done qualitative insight, we’ve done consultancy across creative, we’ve done activation on social, we’ve done research projects, there’s a load of different things. It’d be really interesting to, I suppose, hear what your favourite part of that puzzle is that the bits we’re doing? 

Josie Clark:

Yeah, well I think the most important part is you guys make us approach it from a real insight-first point of view, and really listening to the communities and the challenges they face and building an insight around whatever we’re going to build from that, whether it’s activation or a wider project.

So, I think understanding the perspectives of those audiences has been one of my favourite pieces. But from a natural project perspective, I do think our Stage of Greatness at Pride is one of the most amazing activations we’ve done. It’s kind of been known far and wide. Colleagues have loved it, consumers loved it as well. And it’s really kind of showing through in all of our brand metrics as well.

I think the fact that we focused on the inclusive area, as well as having BSL interpreters and performers, and really kind of touched all the different areas that we should around the inclusive approach. 

Dom Hyams:

I have to agree. I think we often talk about Brighton Pride, that you could actually feel the inclusive energy in the air as it were. It was like a really palpable thing.

And I think we obviously had a number of things, you mentioned including BSL performers. We obviously trained the staff, so hopefully everyone felt comfortable as they were coming in. We had the accessible signage, obviously ramps throughout, etcetera.

And I think that just for me, you are a great example of the brand that when you see them doing that stuff, it isn’t just affecting the disabled community. Everyone is seeing that and going, oh, they’re a brand doing this, I really can align myself and believe in and admire what they’re doing as a brand, and that makes them feel good.

And that’s obviously as a consumer, but then in Brighton Pride, that was just a visitor, someone there to watch the stuff going on in the stages in the yard, and I think it was a really perfect example of that, but in a physical form as it were. 

Josie Clark:

Yeah, totally.

And I think the great thing there, as you’ve just said, it is multiple different approaches across multiple different groups of people. So we had consumers there, but we also had customers there, we had influencers there. We brought our campaign to life through that stage as well. So it lived on past just the event through all of our social content, and it’s just that year after year support. So I think that consistency is key as well. 

Dom Hyams:

And for you personally, obviously this forms one part of your much wider job, but what have you learned, I suppose, from our work together? But then also, is there anything maybe that you’ve taken from what we do and how we do it and then applied that elsewhere in your role as well? 

Josie Clark:

Yeah, I think I’ve mentioned it before, but the way you make us really consider the insight and listen to the community and build our plans from what they say and what we can do to talk to them authentically or help solve challenges in certain aspects on various projects, I think that’s something that’s so important. And you can’t forget that through any campaign you do.

It’s all about the consumer at the end of the day, and the insight that you have and trying to communicate to them authentically. So insight, but then consistency is key. So making sure that you do keep supporting again and again, year after year, and taking step by step, rather than showing up one year in a big way and then not following that through.

Dom Hyams:

And not wanting to put you on the spot, but insight wise, was there anything that you found particularly surprising, whatever the word is?

And don’t worry if the number is not exactly right, we can put the correct number right there, but is there anything that you were like, oh wow, I had no idea that was a thing or that the number was that high or whatever it might be? 

Josie Clark:

I mean, even from the start, so I joined, you’d already started with the wider team on our journey already, so I joined partway through. But even just hearing about the Purple Pound and the size of the community in that sense, that 24% of people are disabled in the UK, and they spend billions of pounds a year.

And it’s just, if you’re not communicating to those audiences, they are your consumers, you are really missing a trick from a brand perspective.

I think as well, one of the other key ones that stuck with us, and hopefully we’ve got some from projects this year that will help tackle it, but I think it was about 86% of disabled people struggled getting into British pubs. And that just fills me with sadness. It’s such a part of the community and a hub for most local areas, and that’s something that we really need to solve and fix. 

Dom Hyams:

And obviously those people, that’s where they want to be drinking Strongbow and other Heineken things. So it makes logical sense that we start to think about what we can do to support those people.

And then I suppose you touched on it briefly there, the balance between inclusion because it’s the right thing to do, and inclusion because there is a growth opportunity that maybe other brands aren’t seeing or aren’t engaging in or refusing to acknowledge. How do you balance that both internally and externally?

And I mean, we know that actually more and more we are leaning into a growth opportunity focused narrative around how we get cut through about what we do. We are in a position now hopefully in 2025, well aside from all the chaos going on in the start of 2025 around DEI and stuff, but aside from that, we know people get it in the sense of they know it’s the right thing to do, but actually we see that the growth opportunity bit helps drive things up the food chain, down the food chain kind of thing.

So I don’t know whether as a brand you’ve had to reflect on that at all, or be comfortable leaning into that and whether that was a sort of vulnerable place to be?

Josie Clark:

Yeah, I think ultimately as we’ve said, consistency is key. So when you approach this journey and you start projects, you have to be committed to them year after year, whatever way that means you show up, but it is about showing up year after year.

So there is a commitment from the brand, and we are businesses at the end of the day, but I think as you say, it’s about hammering home the opportunity that there is there. And if brands don’t have inclusion journeys at their heart as well, then they are missing a massive part of their audience that can be loyal consumers.

So I think there’s a piece from a media approach and making sure you are speaking to your broad community, including these different communities within. And then there’s also smaller projects which you do have to approach from a specific point of view for that community, that are commitments and they aren’t broad reaching. They might not have a really high ROI, but over time they do help from a brand growth perspective. So it’s just signing up and being clever about how you do it and making sure that you have that long view in mind. 

Dom Hyams:

And with that longer view, obviously we’re now doing things going into 2025 that I would say are going to create tangible real world change to people’s lives, and that is a really exciting place to be.

I think that if you were going to try and do that in year one, you’d struggle because there’s an authenticity piece. There’s not that natural connection already with the audience, but actually we are a few years in now, and so taking that insight and working in the space for a good period of time now actually we can start to do activities that might otherwise look unusual.

But actually now it’s incredibly exciting, and I think for me personally this year coming up, I am really excited to show to the world, but also showcase Strongbow as a brand that actually hopefully can move the needle in an industry, and I think that that’s really powerful. I’m not sure how much or how little you want to or can talk about what we have planned, but yeah, I’d be interested to hear your feelings around it as well. 

Josie Clark:

Yeah, you’ve hit the nail on the head. We’re so excited about this year, and I think it is that journey year after year. So we had to lay the foundations when we relaunched and we started on the journey looking internally, we started with those things that were more in our control as a brand team, about our ATL and our communications.

But actually, as you say, now we’re into year three of our relationship and on this journey, it’s about what we can bring to the trade as well. And as you say, really kind of making an impact for the consumer experience as well as customer benefit.

So we have a couple of initiatives that we’re going to aim to go live this year. One for our off trade, so supporting in the supermarkets, we’re looking to put Navilens on our packs, which we’re really excited about. And then one for the pubs trying to tackle that insight that I mentioned earlier around accessibility. So whether that’s through physical accessibility or also around training staff. So really trying to add value for the consumer experience, but also to our customers and making them feel comfortable and bringing them on the journey.

But you’re right, you can’t do that unless you’ve done your own groundwork and kind of built that foundation. So very excited, Dom. 

Dom Hyams:

Watch this space.

Yes. And broadly, Strongbow as a brand sort of outside of inclusion, what have you got coming up in the year ahead and how is that affecting how you are thinking through that kind of marketing lens as well?

Josie Clark:

Yeah, we’ve got another big year on Strongbow, so we’ve got a huge media plan going live. We’ve got out of home, social, programmatic, influencers again, which we work with yourselves on as well. We’ve got a massive sampling campaign going live because we’re taking our new flavour, strawberry, national, that’ll be in the pubs and the supermarkets this year. I keep saying next year.

So that’s really exciting. We’ll also be popping up at festivals again, we’re back supporting the Pride community, which will be brilliant. And then also trying to tap into moments like Halloween and also Strongbow’s British humour and bringing that to the forefront again is kind of our key. So a massive year to come. 

Dom Hyams:

Amazing.

And then I suppose just aside from what you do in the realm of marketing and comms, obviously Strongbrow is part of the Heineken group, a very, very large global drinks company. Do you see the work that you are doing in Strongbow being seen, noticed, and actually creating bits of change within Heineken as a broader entity? 

Josie Clark:

A hundred percent. Yeah.

I think we are really paving the way, which is great to see, and it’s so rewarding to be on the forefront of. There’s a lot of purpose around what we do, but it also drives a lot of encouragement through the business. And we do do a lot behind the scenes as well with our colleagues.

We had Marios come in and teach BSL, which was amazing at the end of last year, he taught us a few Christmas phrases, which we allowed employees to go home and teach their families and friends, and we’re trying to embed it in our culture as much as possible too.

We obviously have a DE&I agenda from a Heineken perspective, and Strongbow as a brand tries to tap into that where we can as well. So yeah, we’re kind of leading the way internally, but the business is so supportive behind the scenes too. 

Dom Hyams:

Awesome.

And then I suppose you personally, looking ahead to 2025, what are you most excited about as Josie from Heineken, but also just Josie as Josie? 

Josie Clark:

I think to be honest, these projects that we have coming up that are going to tackle consumer experience, I just think they really look at a key challenge and something we can fix and is long lasting change.

And I absolutely love going to the pub and enjoying a pint with my friends, so my wish for the year would be that everyone has the ability to do that. We can’t change it overnight, but at least we can start to make small steps in the right direction to help where possible. So yeah, that is my personal and work goal to be fair. I’m very excited about it.

Dom Hyams:

It’s great when your professional ambition is to go to the pub more. 

Josie Clark:

Yeah, that’s it. You’ve nailed it, hit the nail on the head. 

Dom Hyams:

And then finally, for other people in our sphere, in the world of marketing comms that obviously see you and I’m sure are impressed with the work that Strongbow has done to date, what would your piece of advice be for them if haven’t made that step yet for whatever reason? What would your advice be to them in starting their inclusive journeys?

Josie Clark:

I think fear and the unknown can be the biggest barrier.

I think for us, asking for help and bringing in an agency like yourselves is one of the best ways to do that. I think you’ve got to ask some hard questions and actually just not being scared to go and speak to communities. They will tell you what they want to see, they’re your consumers, just listen to them.

And I think if you start with that, then whatever your next steps are going to be, you should be starting with quite an authentic approach and just making sure it really marries up to the brand and your brand goals as well. The worst is kind of having a mismatch plan, but yeah, I think really kind of starting with a bit of help is the easiest way to kick off, really. 

Dom Hyams:

Amazing. I’ll pay you later again.

Thanks so much for coming. Thank you for being on the podcast. Obviously everyone go and drink some Strongbow tonight, tomorrow responsibly obviously, and I similarly can’t wait for the year ahead and to share with the world as well some of the bits that we’ve got going on, it’ll be a lot of fun. So thank you and have a great rest of your day. 

Josie Clark:

Thanks. 

Outro (18:36)

Dom Hyams:

Thanks so much for watching the podcast. We also want to thank our friends at ID Studios who so wonderfully host us for all of our podcasts. If you have any podcast needs yourself, we highly recommend them. Not only is their space inclusive, accessible, they are also just a great group of people. So please reach out and they will be more than happy to accommodate.