Projects
Avallen Calvados
France
It was crunch time for drinks brand, Avallen Calvados when they came to Flourish Marketing to hatch a plan for their Marketing and PR strategy in 2023!
As one of the Mangrove Global brands (a UK distributor of premium spirits in the UK and longstanding client), we knew Avallen well so getting under the skin of this B-corp company was a treat!
What we delivered
- Marketing Communications
- Outsourced Marketing
- PR
- Strategy
Our Approach
The biggest challenge we faced was around the relative obscurity of Calvados as a drink in the UK.
Avallen is on a mission to bring the most planet-positive spirit, made only from apples, water and time, into the serve strategy of every UK bar. Dream big right?
With Stephanie and Tim at the helm, and the brand’s eco-credentials buzzing as loudly as the bees they protect, we sprung a sustainable Marketing and PR campaign into action for the brand.
Avallen wanted to raise its profile with the on-trade, with the launch of their eight-point sustainability plan, as well as to seek out and encourage liquid on lips opportunities.
So, we devised a pro-active approach to shout about the brand across trade and consumer audiences. With our extensive press list and connections, we linked up with as many journalists as possible to share the Avallen story, promote its eco status and to encourage more people to drink Calvados.
Our Solution
We pitched the Avallen team for interviews, events, podcasts, speaking opportunities and press features, focusing round various calendar days such as International Women’s Day, World Bee Day and Calvados Week.
By linking up with well-known chefs, influencers and celebrities, as well as supporting the brand in events, we left no stone unturned in our quest for heightened awareness of this delicious apple brandy.
Through press interviews, releases and features we achieved hundreds of column inches in over 30 different publications such as Olive, Good Housekeeping, Country Living, Just Drinks, Spirits Business, Fine Food Digest, Drinks International and Harpers Wine & Spirits to name drop a few! The potential publication reach of these column inches was over 45million readers and that was achieved in just short of a year!
The icing on the cake was Avallen being awarded the #2 Top Trending and #5 Best Selling Calvados (or some might say apple brandy) in the Drinks International Brand Report 2024. A very warming way to begin 2024 and much deserved. To quote Shay Waterworth “Avallen is a calvados that looks at the category through a sustainable lens”. We’ll drink to that!
There is no doubt that this heightened awareness of Avallen has raised the profile of Calvados in general in the UK, and the brand is now consolidating its efforts. Good luck Tim and Steph!
What did this look like?
- Profiles of the key Avallen team were built out and targeted to selected press
- Samples were sent to numerous influential press and key figures in the industry, along with press releases and lifestyle photography
- Competitions were arranged in key publications to achieve that ‘liquid on lips’ opportunity
- On trade activations were supported across the UK
- Chefs and influencers were targeted to use Avallen in serves and recipes
- We supported the development of partnerships with relevant mixer brands and eco-conscious organisations to elevate the Avallen story.
