2000 to 2009
100 YEARS OF IRN-BRU, 2001
As part of the 100 years of IRN-BRU celebrations in 2001 the company produced a book ‘Robert Barr to A.G. Barr p.l.c. 1875 to 2001’. The book was researched and written by Chairman Robin Barr and Group Brands Manager Mark Jephcott and contains a full history of the business spanning over 125 years. Staff received a limited edition commemorative plate to mark the occasion.
ORANGINA ROUGE IS LAUNCHED IN THE UK, 2002.
LIPTON ICE TEA, 2003
Following a successful regional launch in 2002, Barr signs a national distribution agreement with Unilever for their Lipton Iced Tea brand in the UK. In 2003 Unilever committed to a massive £6m sales and marketing campaign which included national media, a sampling campaign and the extension of the product range to 12 variants.
IRN-BRU PHENOMENAL CAMPAIGN, 2004
This campaign was launched in Scotland in the North East with a full programme of promotional activity and media support.
DIET IRN-BRU is relaunched, 2005
Diet IRN-BRU becomes a brand in its own right with new packaging and a new TV Campaign which introduces the world to RAOUL ..‘Hey Ladies!’
STRATHMORE ACQUISITION, 2006
The Forfar based Strathmore Spring water business was acquired by Barrs for £15.5m in 2006. Strathmore Spring water is rich in beneficial minerals and is created by a 50 year filtration process through the sandstone layers of the Vale of Strathmore. The water is drawn by us for bottling from an aquifer deep underground. The most famous building in the Vale is Glamis Castle which appears on every bottle of Strathmore Spring. The Castle is famous for its Royal connections as well as being one of the locations in Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'. As part of a partnership agreement between A.G.Barr p.l.c. and the Princes Trust in 2008, Strathmore Spring Water became the official water of The Trust and is used to support their fundraising activities.
IRN-BRU 32 LAUNCHED, 2006
Derek the Cuckoo, played by Scottish actor Brian McCardie was created to launch our new energy drink brand IRN-BRU 32 onto TV screens across Scotland in 2006. IRN-BRU 32 launched in 250ml cans, was developed to compete in the fast growing energy drinks market. The brand won the ‘Top Campaign of the Year 2006’ award from leading trade magazine ‘The Grocer’. and was also awarded J Sainsbury’s ‘Best Promotional Launch of the Year 2006’.
ST CLEMENTS FRUITS, 2006
The St Clements brand was re-launched in 2005 as St Clements Originals, a range of great tasting fruit based drinks. St Clements Fruits was launched in 2006 in 3 flavours Citrus, Strawberry and Lime, Blackcurrant, Apple and Blueberry. A new Pear and Kiwi flavour was added in 2008. Other products launched under St Clements Originals are ‘Pure Juice’ and ‘Pure Fruit Smoothie’ which were initially developed for schools but are also enjoying good sales and distribution in the impulse trade.
IRN-BRU SNOWMAN ADVERT, 2006
The IRN-BRU ‘Snowman’ Ad was the first ever Christmas TV advert produced by the brand. Inspired by Raymond Briggs classic 1982 animated film ‘The Snowman’ it gave a very funny twist to this traditional Christmas tale. ‘The Snowman’s’ famous soundtrack ‘Walking in the Air’ by Howard Blake was re-written with alternative IRN-BRU lyrics. The advert was first screened in Scotland during Christmas 2006 and has since become very popular with the Scottish public who have viewed it over 1m times on you-tube. In 2007 it was also screened in England.
IRN-BRU SCOTTISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE, 2007
In July 2007 IRN-BRU announced its £3m three year sponsorship deal with the Scottish Football League. The sponsorship was developed to support Scottish League Divisions 1, 2 and 3 which comprise 30 clubs throughout the length and breadth of the country.
At the first IRN-BRU SFL Phenomenal Awards for the season 07/08 Hamilton Academicals won 5 awards including the 1st Division Manager of the Season award for Billy Reid. Billy is pictured (centre) with the other award winners from Hamilton on the night: Richard Offiong (First Division Player), James McArthur (Monthly winner), Mark McLaughlin (Monthly Winner), Scott Struthers (Team of the Year - Hamilton), James McCarthy (Young Player).
IRN-BRU ‘BEST BRAND’ LAST 21 YEARS, 2007
IRN-BRU stole the show at the 2007 Scottish Advertising Awards. The brand won ‘Best Brand’, ‘Best Slogan’, ‘Best Radio Commercial’, ‘Best Advertising Campaign’ and ‘Best Poster’ of the last 21 years. It also won the coveted ‘Grand Prix’ Award for the Snowman Advert – an award given for the best overall campaign of the year.
‘NEW’ TIZER, 2007
The Tizer brand was relaunched in 2007 with a new brand logo, new packaging and a new formulation based on the original 1924 recipe. The new recipe contains 10% fruit juice with no artificial flavourings, artificial sweeteners or artificial colours to appeal to more health conscious consumers.
ST CLEMENTS RANGE EXTENTION, 2007
The St Clements juice drinks brand was further strengthened with the introduction of a range of 100% pure juice and fruit smoothie products to complement the successful St Clements fruits range.
ORANGINA ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN, 2007
A new ‘3D’ Orangina logo was introduced onto packaging in the UK in 2007. A memorable advertising campaign was also launched to reinforce Orangina’s Mediterranean roots and the ‘Shake It to Wake It’ message. The campaign included moving images on LCD screens sited on the London Underground and impactful back of bus advertising.
CUMBERNAULD FACILITY NEARS COMPLETION, 2007
Barr operations in Scotland are centralised into a new £37m production, warehousing, distribution and Head Office facility located at Cumbernauld some 9 miles east of Glasgow.
STRATHMORE ‘MORE SPRING’ TV ADS, 2007
Barr’s first advertising campaign for Strathmore Spring Water was launched in 2007 as part of a £1m marketing drive in Scotland. The new advert brought a vibrant, modern focus to the brand with an exciting urban dance sequence set to an uplifting soundtrack. Amazing digital images of the water itself also made for a memorable advert. Popular with consumers the advert was also used for the brands 2008 TV campaign.
VITSMART ACQUISITION, 2008
Vitsmart a functional water brand, launched in 2005 was acquired and relaunched by Barr in 2008.
TAUT ACQUISITION, 2008
The TAUT sports drink range was acquired and re-launched by Barr in 2008. The product contains no artificial sweeteners, preservatives, colours or flavours.
Rowing star and four times Olympic Gold medalist Sir Matthew Pinsent is an ambassador for the brand.
THE PRINCE'S TRUST, 2008
Barr signs a partnership agreement with The Prince's Trust. Barr’s will support the work of The Trust by investing in a number of its core community programmes across the UK, with a particular focus on Scotland. Across the company all Barr employees will be encouraged to develop their own fundraising initiatives and get involved in the work of The Trust.
The Prince’s Trust gives practical and financial support to those aged 14-30 who are struggling at school, have been in care, are long-term unemployed or have been in trouble with the law. More than three in four young people The Trust helped last year moved into work, education or training.
Barr’s Strathmore Spring water will support The Trusts fundraising activities and carry The Prince’s Trust logo on all packs, together with details of how consumers can find out more about the work of the charity.
The Prince's Trust - helping to change young lives. For more information go to www.princes-trust.org.uk
BARR'S ORIGINALS LAUNCHED, 2008
Reflecting increasing consumer interest in nostalgic and authentic brands Barr's Originals was launched in 2008. Barr's Originals is a range of great tasting traditional carbonated drinks containing 100% natural flavours and top quality ingredients. Bottled in glass to ensure the finest quality, taste and freshness, the brand was launched in four flavours, Dandelion & Burdock, Traditional Lemonade, Cream Soda with a twist of Raspberry and Ginger Beer.
ACQUISITION OF GROUPE RUBICON LIMITED, 2008
A.G.BARR p.l.c. announced on 5th August 2008 that it had entered into a conditional agreement to purchase Groupe Rubicon Limited for a total initial cash consideration of £59.8 million. The Rubicon Group is a UK based manufacturer and distributor of branded exotic juice drinks.
FIRST IRN-BRU GLASS PROMOTION, 2008
IRN-BRU created the first ever limited edition glass in its 107 year history which was available in Scotland, in a £2,000,000 consumer promotion campaign.
The consumer promotion in store was Buy two x 2lt bottles of IRN-BRU Regular or Diet and get a FREE IRN-BRU Glass.
Two special 10 second TV adverts were produced to create awareness of the IRN-BRU glass and the promotional offer in store which ran during August.
STRATHMORE SPRING IS RELAUNCHED, 2008
Strathmore Spring the No1* water brand in the on-trade introduced a new label design.
The new label design builds on Strathmore's brand strengths of purity, contemporary Scottishness and quality, placing Glamis Castle at the core of the design because its location at the heart of the Vale of Strathmore marks the source of the water. The castles presence on-pack delivers a real sense of origin and underlines the brand’s provenance.
The new label also features the brand’s support for the youth charity The Prince’s Trust.
* Source: Neilsen On-trade MAT Value to July 2008
VITSMART IS RELAUNCHED, 2008
Vitsmart was completely re-launched with a new formulation, a new vitamin mix and a range of 5 exciting new flavours in new 500ml bottles.
In addition to the brands new vitamin mix Vitsmart’s new recipe also contains no artificial sweeteners, natural colours, natural flavours and is free from preservatives and stabilisers. Each 500ml bottle contains 50% of a consumer’s RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) of 8 essential vitamins and minerals B1, B3, B5, B6, B12, C, D, E.
NEW VARIANT ROCKSTAR PUNCHED IS LAUNCHED, 2008
With over 6 million cans sold in its first year of launch new Rockstar Punched joins the range.
Rockstar Punched contains Guava and 10% juice.
IRN-BRU SPONSORS RUGBY LEAGUE & SKY SPORTS SUPER LEAGUE COVERAGE, Feb 2009
IRN-BRU becomes the official soft drink sponsor of the Rugby League until 2010 and the broadcast sponsor of Sky Sports' Super League coverage for 2009.
The sponsorship with Sky Sports and the Rugby Football League raised the profile and visibility of IRN-BRU reaching over 10 million viewers through the 60 live games broadcast during the season.
IRN-BRU SUGAR FREE CAMPAIGN
IRN-BRU created a brand new advertising campaign to highlight the sugar free benefit of Diet IRN-BRU. Sporting two identical images, consumers are asked to ‘Spot the Difference’; but there is only one difference – one is sugar free. The thinking behind the creative was to reinforce that Diet IRN-BRU is sugar free but still has the same refreshing taste as IRN-BRU. The Advertising Campaign appeared on billboards across the country during February 2009
ROBIN BARR TO RETIRE AS CHAIRMAN, March 2009
Robin Barr (71), steps down as Chairman at the Company's AGM in May 2009.
Robin has held the position of Chairman for the last 31 years and has been a director of A.G.Barr for 44 years.
Robin has agreed to remain on the Board in a non-executive role.
Ronnie Hanna (61) who has served as a non-executive Director on the A.G.Barr Board for the last 5 years will become non-executive Chairman in May.
Jonathan Warburton (51) Chairman of Warburtons Ltd is appointed as independent non-executive Director.
STRATHMORE GIVES A NEW TWIST TO FLAVOURED WATERS
From April 2009 Strathmore introduced Strathmore Twist, a new range of naturally flavoured great tasting still and sparkling spring waters. Strathmore pioneered the flavoured water category launching the first range of flavoured waters in 1989. Strathmore Twist was launched across 330ml glass, 500ml and 1.5lt PET packs in three flavours Lemon & Lime, Blackberry & Strawberry and Cranberry & Raspberry. The product contains a hint of natural fruit flavour with no artificial colours, no artificial flavours and unlike the majority of other flavoured waters contains no artificial sweeteners.
IRN-BRU MUSICAL
On Tuesday 5th May the new 60 second IRN-BRU MUSICAL TV advert was premiered on STV as part of the brands £2m summer campaign.
Set in the corridors and grounds of the fictional ‘Auchendookit Senior High’, IRN-BRU Musical shows the school’s students performing their own very Scottish musical number, 'It's Fizzy, It's Ginger, It's Phenomenal'. The campaign featured eighteen-year-old Jack Lowden from Oxton in the Borders – who was a first year theatre student at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 2009 and a host of young Scottish actors from across the country.
IRN-BRU Musical was created by the Leith Agency. A teaser campaign running in the weeks prior to launch built huge anticipation, and included a major online countdown on websites such as bebo, the release of ‘blipverts’ – 1 second clips of the advert - to IRN-BRU’s online membership, plus mysterious cast cut-outs and posters appeared in shops and universities across Scotland. There was also a premier screening event held at the Classic Grand in Glasgow on Wednesday 29th April 2009 followed by an on-line premier watched by thousands.
HEALTHY RELAUNCH FOR ST CLEMEMTS FRUITS
St Clements Fruits re-launched in July 2009 with a new 'healthier' formula, new label design and a new wide mouth 500ml pack presentation. The new formulation contains no artificial additives (no colours, flavours or sweeteners) and has a 13.5% juice content. But what makes the brand special is Aseptic filling which means there is no need for preservatives.
The St Clements Fruits range is available in Orange & Lemon, Strawberry & Lime and Blackcurrant Apple & Blueberry with an RRSP of 85p for a 500ml pet bottle.
IRN-BRU MIGHTY GLASS PROMOTION 2009
1,000,000 IRN-BRU Mighty Glass's were produced in 3 different presentation boxes for the brands summer consumer promotion.
In one of the largest promotions of its kind consumers were able to redeem the glass – for every two x 2-litre bottles of regular or diet IRN-BRU purchased.
The limited edition launch was backed by a £250,000 advertising campaign on STV and Channel 4, featuring a 20 second TV commercial. The commercial reached 60% of the Scottish population.
IRN-BRU WORLD RECORD BREAKER
Nearly ten thousand people attended the IRN-BRU Can Clan event held on Sunday 13th September 2009 in Glasgow Green as part of Scotlands ‘Home Coming’ year. Hosted by popular actor and writer Sanjeev Kohli with music from ‘The Zutons’ and ‘Pearl And The Puppets’ IRN-BRU smashed the world record for the Can Can.
An official adjudicator from Guinness World Records, Jack Brockbank, was in attendance to oversee proceedings and he was able to confirm that the new record had been set after the required five minutes of cancan moves.
IRN-BRU HERITAGE CAN
Five million IRN-BRU heritage cans were produced as part of ‘Homecoming’ - enough for everyone in Scotland – featuring the IRN-BRU logo that was first introduced in 1947 when the spelling of BARRS IRON BREW was changed to BARRS IRN-BRU for the first time.
Former Barr’s Chairman Robin Barr and original IRN-BRU delivery boy, Jimmy Allen, now 87, unveiled the can in Callendar Park in Falkirk.
