Thatchers Cider managing director Martin Thatcher tells Retail Gazette why the family-owned cider maker’s first festive campaign is about far more than selling a pint…

When Martin Thatcher visited Aardman’s Bristol studios to see how his company’s first Christmas advert was coming together, it was a miniature coat that particularly caught his attention.

The animation studio had recreated the Thatchers Cider managing director as a stop-motion puppet, complete with clothing painstakingly made using the same techniques as a full-sized garment.

“They literally cut a little miniature pattern out as if they were tailor-making a full-size coat,” he recalls.

For Thatcher, whose family has been making cider at Myrtle Farm in Somerset since 1904, the effort involved was familiar. “That attention to detail really resonates with us when we’re making our cider, when we’re carefully choosing which apples to grow, pressing them in just the right way, and how we ferment our cider.”

It’s this shared approach to craftsmanship that sits at the core of Thatchers’ first festive television campaign, Saving Tasting Time, which sees the cider maker join forces with the studio behind Wallace and Gromit.

The advert follows an animated Thatcher as heavy snowfall threatens to derail one of Myrtle Farm’s longstanding traditions, the Friday 12.30pm cider tasting.

With some help from Myrtle the dog, he takes to the skies in a hot-air balloon to reunite the tasting team, ensuring that the business’s commitment to quality doesn’t take a Christmas break.

It’s a charming, distinctly West Country production, but one with clear commercial ambitions. For Thatchers, the campaign offers an opportunity to introduce the business to new customers, strengthen its brand identity and encourage more people to consider cider during a season traditionally associated with other drinks.

And Thatcher believes the company’s own history provides plenty of material to work with.

Finding the right story

“For us, the important part of the advert is to tell our story and tell it in an authentic, charming and warm way, which is hopefully reflecting the type of business that we are,” he tells Retail Gazette.

“It’s really important that we keep telling that story because people from different parts of the country don’t know much about us, and we’re still getting to know everybody, and people are getting to know us.”

It’s an interesting admission from the managing director of a business with more than a century of history and an established presence in the British cider market.

Brand recognition, evidently, remains a work in progress, and Thatchers sees advertising as an opportunity to communicate what makes the company different.

That meant finding a story that reflected life at Myrtle Farm rather than simply placing the brand within a conventional Christmas setting.

The idea had been taking shape for almost a year, drawing on the company’s tasting traditions and its commitment to getting its products to customers.

“It just evolved, incorporating all the great things that happen at Myrtle Farm, whether it’s the 12.30 tasting, or our passion to make sure our customers always get their cider and we never let them down,” Thatcher explains.

The decision to approach Aardman came from within Thatchers’ marketing team.

Thatcher remembers watching Morph growing up and was familiar with the animation studio’s reputation, although commissioning it to make a Christmas advert wasn’t something he had initially considered.

“We were aware of Aardman and what they could do, and being in Bristol. But it’s not something that immediately jumped to mind that they would do this advert for us.

“It was one of our marketing people who suggested that we should approach Aardman, and we were very honoured that they said yes.”

This latest project offered an opportunity to bring the cider maker’s family and Somerset home into Aardman’s distinctive animated world.

Thatcher says Aardman worked on the project for around three or four months before the launch, with the process revealing just how much work goes into producing even a short film.

The extended advert runs for 40 seconds, yet filming a single second could take more than a day.

Seeing the finished production was also an unusual experience for the managing director.

“It was a little bit surreal, just seeing the puppet of yourself, and your son and daughter, and Richard and Myrtle the dog,” he laughs.

“We’re delighted with what an amazing job the people at Aardman have done. They are truly incredible at what they do.”

Making Christmas count

For Thatchers, the move into Christmas advertising comes with an opportunity to broaden the occasions on which consumers drink cider.

The category has traditionally benefited from warmer weather, outdoor socialising and major sporting events, all of which remain important to the business.

“There are a number of peaks during the summer. Warm-weather cider sales dramatically grow, of course,” Thatcher explains.

“Things like when there’s major sporting events on, it’s a good time to celebrate with a glass of cider, particularly if your team or the national team happen to win.”

Christmas, however, has not historically held the same association with cider, something Thatcher believes can change.

“We started to realise that Christmas has some opportunities for people to enjoy cider as well, and this is a good moment for us to remind people that cider can be a great part of people’s Christmas repertoire.”

The company’s growing product range gives it several routes into the festive market, from its flagship Thatchers Gold to alcohol-free Zero and flavoured varieties such as Blood Orange.

Thatcher also sees potential in encouraging consumers to experiment with cider as a cocktail ingredient.

It’s a relatively straightforward ambition: make Thatchers relevant to more drinking occasions without losing the familiarity that has helped establish the brand.

The Christmas campaign provides a platform to communicate that message to a wider audience, with the advert airing across ITV, Sky, Netflix and Channel 4.

But Thatcher is conscious that competing for attention during the festive advertising season is no small undertaking.

“We’re dipping our toe in the water, and it’ll be interesting to see how it goes,” he admits.

“Obviously, the space is crowded with people trying to make the best Christmas ad. But we feel that it’s going to come across really well.”

Keeping the family business relevant

Thatchers’ willingness to try something new is particularly interesting given the weight of history behind the company.

As the fourth generation of his family to lead the cider maker, Thatcher says he feels a responsibility to build on what his predecessors achieved.

“When you’re fourth generation, there is a huge amount of responsibility that three generations before you have created a business and cider-making tradition and quality.

“As the next generation, you always want to do at least as well, if not better, than the previous generation.”

That thinking shapes the company’s approach to innovation, whether introducing new products or developing its marketing.

“Every new bit of innovation, we think about very carefully. We make sure that it is innovative, not just a me-too product, and we of course test it at 12.30 many times to make sure that it’s going to be perfect.”

It’s fitting, then, that the ritual used to assess the quality of Thatchers’ cider has become the subject of its Christmas advert.

The campaign gives consumers a glimpse of a tradition that would otherwise remain largely behind the scenes, while Aardman’s involvement makes the story accessible to audiences who may know relatively little about the company.

Whether that translates into greater brand awareness or a stronger association between cider and Christmas remains to be seen.

For now, Thatcher is pleased with what the partnership has produced, and particularly with how faithfully Aardman has captured the business.

“We started off with every confidence that Aardman would execute it beautifully, which I have to say they have.”

For a company trying to reach new audiences while staying closely connected to its Somerset roots, that may be the most important part of the exercise. The advert might feature a flying hot-air balloon, a talking-point puppet and a generous helping of Christmas snow, but the people, the farm and the Friday tasting behind it are very much real.

And Thatchers hopes that getting those details across will give more consumers a reason to remember the brand long after the Christmas advertising season has ended.

Watch Thatchers Cider’s Christmas advert, Saving Tasting Time

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