World Cider Day on June 3rd is an international declaration of love for this popular drink around the world – it symbolises the beginning of the apple cider season all over the world and to generate publicity for the wide variety and characteristics of apple cider.
First introduced in South Africa in 1996, Savanna Premium Cider’s roots are just as deep as the trees their apples are grown on.
During this journey, Savanna has managed to stay true to its brand purpose and remained crisp, dry and consistent throughout. Its most recent growth in volume, value share and brand health during a very challenging, dumpster fire year, 2020 has cemented this much loved cider as the largest cider in South African and Africa – this in a year where several alcohol bans were announced.
From day one, the decision was made to not put any of their plans on hold but rather to evolve as necessary to include strong #StaySafe messaging to remind consumers to stick to the COVID-19 protocols and guidelines put in place by the Government.
As an iconic and premium brand, Savanna is never able to rest (baf’ethu) on its laurels. “We must always strive to meet our community’s expectations and ensure that we maintain our premium credentials.
This applies to everything we do”, says Eugene Lenford, Marketing Manager at Savanna. “Over the last year, by staying in touch with our consumers and by saying #SiyavannaSouthAfrica (We Get You South Africa), we continued to leverage our purpose of the last 20 years – to provide our consumers with the uplifting medicine of laughter.”
A review over the past 12 months showcases a delicate balance between entertaining the Savanna community with the introduction of the Savanna Virtual Comedy Bar (because laughter was the one thing that had no restrictions and supporting the South African Comedy industry is very important to the brand), a new brand positioning – #SiyavannaSouthAfrica – and broadening their range with the introduction of a new variant, Savanna Jean and the re-launch of Savanna Angry Lemon.
The brand also saw significant growth of their Savanna Non-Alcoholic variant due to the increased trend in moderation and conscious consumption. This allowed the brand to strengthen their appeal to both men and women across the South African spectrum.
“Savanna has always been a brand that people are happy to be associated with. “Our #Siyavanna insights allowed us to create campaigns which rang true in the heart of our consumers – all our efforts are rooted in real human and South African insights.
This makes us more than just a funny brand – it makes us distinctive and memorable, but above all it allows us to have a genuine connection and understanding with our community. We believe that this has made us SA’s most loved Cider.
We are also a brand that consumers can still vibe with despite the challenging financial times we all face. We offer an iconic premium brand and affordable sociability to consumers – and it helps to cement our relationship with our customers”, added Lenford.
Savanna is always working on unexpected cross-category challenger innovations to focus on their future sustainability.
This does not only apply to new product developments but also premium in trade experiences and unexpected partnerships. SA’s most loved Cider is excited about the next 12 months and will continue to serve their crisp, witty perspective and uplifting the nation through humour – a space owned by Savanna for over 20 years.
Toast to World Cider Day with a Savanna Cider in hand – Dry, Non Alc, Light, Loco, Jean or Angry Lemon (what an unapologetic range to select from!).