Ballygowan to get makeover in drive to halt falling sales

ICONIC WATER brand Ballygowan is to embark on a major marketing drive and relaunch campaign this year in a move to halt falling sales. The relaunch of the 30-year-old brand will take place this spring.

Ballygowan is one of a number of Irish brands, including Club, owned by Britvic Ireland. Britvic, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, acquired the portfolio of soft drinks from Irish drinks producer CC in 2007, for €249.2 million.

However, Britvic Ireland has been suffering from falling sales in the face of weak consumer demand, reflecting an overall decline in the soft drinks market.

Results for the year ended October 2011 show that Britvic’s revenues in Ireland declined by 9.6 per cent to £162.8 million (€197.4 million) on a constant currency basis. By contrast, revenues in its core British division rose by 2.5 per cent.

According to Kevin Donnelly, marketing director of Britvic Ireland, the relaunch will involve a significant redesign of packaging and logo as well as a consumer campaign in a move to connect with younger consumers.

Ballygowan was founded in 1981 by Geoff Read and has a varied ownership history. During the mid-1980s it teamed up with drinks company Richard Nash, building a purpose-built bottling and warehousing plant at Newcastle West in Co Limerick in 1991.

Two years later CC bought Ballygowan, before selling its entire soft drinks portfolio to Britvic in 2007. In 1995, Ballygowan acquired Aquaporte, the brand leader in the Irish water cooler market, still a significant part of the Ballygowan business.

Ballygowan, which still bottles and sources its water at Newcastle West, has been struggling to maintain its market-leading position in the Irish bottled water market. While it is still the number one brand according to Nielsen, followed by Volvic and Deep River Rock, it recently slipped to number two behind Volvic in the retail channel.

The bottled water market generally has lost ground in recent years, faced with the consumer downturn and low-priced private label offerings from supermarkets. While Ballygowan is still the market leader in terms of the pub trade, this market has suffered heavily in the recession.

Mr Donnelly said that while Ballygowan had lost ground in terms of market share last year, other Britvic Ireland brands had increased their market share, including Club and MiWadi.

Last year it launched the controversial “Best Bits” campaign for Club Orange, a campaign that has been “hugely successful” in terms of impact on sales, according to Mr Donnelly. Britvic Ireland employs more than 600 people in Ireland, having reduced its headcount here by 100 in 2011.