Background
Bulmers Ireland directed the Neon Agency team to create the Secret Orchard experiential platform, defined as the magical place where friends can spend time together, engage in discovery and truly enjoy the moment “When Time Bears Fruit”, to be activated across the summer of 2023.
This encompassed festivals, partner activations, nationwide trade engagements, and a grand finale event showcasing the Bulmers brand heritage.
The campaign objectives were to:
The roadshow was broken down by:
The following criteria distinguished the gold tier venues from the green tier venue. The goal was not only to reach major cities in Ireland but also to activate in every location where Bulmers is enjoyed.
Gold Tier Trade Venue:
Green Tier Trade Venue
The Bulmers Secret Orchard Stage at Body & Soul consisted of a dynamic festival activation, hosting a total of 23 diverse live performances throughout the weekend while the finale event represented the pinnacle of the campaign, concluding the nationwide roadshow celebrating Irish talent. This exclusive event, hosted in the Bulmers owned scenic orchard in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, invited 450 guests to experience the magic amongst the very place Bulmers apples blossom.
Our Response
The Bulmers Secret Orchard Roadshow was brought to life through a wealth of creative solutions, designed to immerse guests in the brand's heritage and enhance their overall experience.
Theming & Decor: Trade events featured rustic decor with earthy tones, ivy, artificial apples, and wooden elements. Clonmel's setup included festival flags, hanging art installations, oversized florals, and vintage furniture to create a festival atmosphere and elevate the experience.
Branding: Consistent branding based on Bulmers' visual identity was integrated throughout the event spaces, including signage, menus, and vinyls.
Secret Orchard Kit: A modular kit using sustainable materials and premium dressing was deployed at each venue, transforming spaces into Bulmers' Secret Orchard areas. The kit was inclusive of:
- The Stage
- Entrance Archway
- Photo Op Area
- Bars
The kit was stained in the Bulmers-approved shade, the signage was premium CNC pieces and other areas such as the stage backdrop and archway were dressed in apple trees and ivy foliage.
The Secret Orchard kit was expanded on for the Clonmel event with further bespoke builds added to the kit list, some having been created for the 2022 Bulmers Secret Orchard event and repurposed sustainably this year.
- The Secret Serves Hut became Granny Smith’s Bar
- Full 9m bespoke bar build and cladding
- Cladding of main entrance archway and second archway
- Concierge/information tent desk
- Cladding of food truck facades
- Larger enhanced stage build
Production/Lighting: Emphasizing production value and innovative lighting effects played a pivotal role in crafting a visually dynamic experience for event attendees across the entire roadshow.
Vibrant stage lighting, incorporating up lighters and movers were utilised to produce captivating effects at the trade events. Festoon lighting dressed the orchard in Clonmel to evoke a warm and soft ambience and Illuminated pathways fostered a sense of discovery and excitement. Stage lighting, infused with green and gold brand colours, highlighted the talent at the forefront.
Hanging lighting installations adorned the orchard's trees, drawing attention to the natural elements in the event space.
Interactive Experiences: Guests engaged in activities like 'Orchard Delights' station, 'Get Festi Ready' area, and 'Bespoke your tote'.'Granny Smith’s House' provided a nostalgic experience with mulled cider and an educational display.
Execution
The main strategy of the Bulmers Secret Orchard campaign focused on several objectives:
Brand Relevance: Establish Bulmers as relevant to the 25-35 age group by delivering modern experiences and incorporating current trends, including talented Irish artists and dynamic event lineups.
Brand Advocacy/Trial: Elevate consumer sentiment and drive trial of Bulmers Draught through captivating experiences, including a nationwide roadshow with themed decor, dynamic lighting, and interactive elements.
Support Irish Homegrown Talent: Secure Irish artists for performances, provide attractive packages, and consistently support them throughout the marketing funnel.
Brand Awareness: Re-ignite consumer interest in Bulmers through a comprehensive 360 marketing approach, utilising media, social, CRM, PR, influencers, and experiential activations.
Brand Asset: Establish the orchard as a key brand asset, focusing on sustainability and adaptability for various events/activations.
Participant engagement was ensured through digital, media, and influencer collaborations, with clear calls to action for ticket registration. Challenges such as managing attendee numbers were addressed by increasing ticket capacity, introducing an opt-out feature, and implementing a brand ambassador system.
Sustainability remained a central focus, with initiatives like modular kits crafted from repurposed wood. Marketing and PR efforts spanned digital audio, display, media partnerships, smaller partnerships, localized radio, VOD, social media, on-trade, and off-trade mechanics, and influencer collaborations to drive awareness and engagement.
Results
The Bulmers Secret Orchard Roadshow in 2023 engaged a broader audience through media partnerships, on-trade/off-trade mechanisms, experiential activations, and influencer collaborations. Goals included establishing brand relevance, elevating consumer sentiment, supporting Irish talent, reigniting interest, and highlighting the orchard as a key brand asset.
Achievements:
Support Irish Homegrown Talent:
31 Irish artists secured for the campaign, with positive testimonials.
Notable interest from artists for future collaborations.
Participant Engagement:
Ticket sell-outs at 5 out of 7 events, totaling 1,631 attendees.
Over-achievement on sign-ups benchmark with 12,948 registrations.
Organic social media engagement and follower increase.
Media + Website Performance:
49M impressions across various channels.
High completion rates on VOD platforms and significant social media reach.
Influencer Partnerships:
Successful collaborations with influencers, driving substantial reach and engagement.
Paid posts and collaborations with influencers like Shauna Lindsay and Izzy Bartak Healy resulted in significant exposure.
Secret Orchard Platform - Sign Ups: 12,948 unique sign-ups with high engagement rates.
Valuable insights gathered through post-event surveys, informing future campaign strategies.
Eventbrite Results:
Over 2,100 orders and 3,800 tickets placed, with additional sign-ups to the Secret Orchard platform.
Learnings from the process, including the importance of location-specific pages and nominal ticket fees.
Wrap Up Survey Results:
Positive feedback from attendees, highlighting the quality of the lineup, venue, atmosphere, and Bulmers products.
High satisfaction ratings and likelihood of attending future events.
The campaign effectively achieved its objectives, showcasing Bulmers' commitment to supporting Irish talent, engaging consumers, and enhancing brand perception through immersive experiences.
Client Tesimonials
“The Bulmers Secret Orchard event was magical, nestled amongst the trees in Clonmel the experience perfectly balanced creative, the natural context of the orchard and the Bulmers brand.
Neon took the brief and executed a campaign that brought together homegrown talent in a unique way to bring the brand to life in a meaningful way. The brand challenge to be addressed was to increase brand relevance with a younger audience and Secret Orchard delivered this, this is demonstrated in the post campaign analysis - our brand image and consideration scores saw significant uplift.
This is just the beginning for Secret Orchard, the brilliant execution in 2023 sets us up for a successful 2024 with a brand platform that we know resonates with our target audience.”
Jane Parlon, Head of Brands & Innovation, C&C Group
“The Bulmers Secret Orchard would not have been possible without the brilliant team at Neon! The brief to Neon was to create an experiential platform for the brand that would help drive footfall into the trade and help both customers and consumers alike to enjoy time well spent with friends in the magical Bulmers Orchards. Neon took on this challenge and delivered above and beyond expectations.
Not only did they manage every aspect of delivery to the highest standards, they also created an adaptable brand experience and reusable production kit which will allow us to activate in the future in a more cost-effective and sustainable way. The expertise and experience of the team at Neon gave me great peace of mind that every aspect of the event would be delivered to the highest standard.”
Karl Donnelly, Marketing Director Bulmers Ireland
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