Irn-Bru is returning to the nation’s TV screens with a sequel to its original Irn-Bru Snowman Christmas TV advert.
The new advert breaks on December 1, heralding the start of the festive season for many Scottish consumers.
“Since it was first aired 12 years ago, the Irn-Bru Snowman has become synonymous with Christmas in Scotland and consumers will be intrigued and excited to see what happens next in this iconic, much-loved story,” said Adrian Troy, Marketing Director at Barr Soft Drinks.
“Importantly for retailers, shoppers readily associate Christmas with the Irn-Bru Snowman, creating a feel-good factor which translates into increased demand in the run-up to the festive period, when carbonates are a key profit driver.”
The TV ad is on air for the whole of December and will be supported by a high-impact media campaign incorporating PR, digital and social media as part of a £2m Christmas brand investment.
The ad hits screens as sales of Irn-Bru in Scotland are at an all-time high, with value sales up 11% year-on-year, driven by the three variants of Irn-Bru (regular, sugar free and Xtra) appealing to different drinkers.
Irn-Bru regular continues to grow, up 8% while Irn-Bru sugar free is Scotland’s best-selling low-calorie flavoured carbonate, growing at 10%. Irn-Bru Xtra has generated over £19m of additional sales for Scottish retailers since it was launched and is currently growing at 47%.
The strong brand performance is highlighted by the fact that Irn-Bru has driven more than half the entire flavoured carbonates category growth in Scotland.
“It’s against this really strong backdrop that our Snowman sequel goes on TV and we’ll be maintaining the feel-good factor throughout December, attracting shoppers to the fixture to enjoy Irn-Bru as an integral part of their seasonal celebrations,” added Troy.
Barr Soft Drinks advised retailers to prominently display all three variants of Irn-Bru and use its Snowman-branded POS to create in-store theatre and drive incremental category sales.
