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Ballygowan to help cancer campaign
14 February 2010 By Catherine O'Mahony
Ireland’s top bottled water label, Ballygowan, this week starts a nine month fundraising drive for the Marie Keating breast cancer charity, which could become a permanent feature of the brand.
Britvic Ireland, which owns Ballygowan, is investing €1.2 million in an integrated marketing campaign called Be Part of It between now and October.
During this time, pink Ballygowan bottles in aid of the Marie Keating Foundation will be sold alongside the established blue (still) and green (sparkling) bottles, wherever Ballygowan is sold. These will be promoted on TV, radio, press, posters, bus shelters and online.
The target is to raise €250,000 for the charity between now and October, and the possibility of keeping the pink bottles as a permanent option is under consideration.
Ballygowan picked the breast cancer charity because of its brand’s own association with health and wellness and because women are its best supporters.
Kevin Donnelly, Britvic Ireland’s marketing director, said he had never experienced such an enthusiastic response to a marketing drive, as staff, retailers and pub owners all wanted to help. Some pubs planned to paint entrance doors pink to help support the promotion, he said.
‘‘This started out as a small idea, but now it’s spread across the whole range of Ballygowan products," he said. ‘‘You’ll be able to buy a pink bottle in retailers, in the gym, in supermarkets and in the on-trade.
‘‘But it’s more than just a run-of the mill marketing idea. We’re amazed at the level of engagement we are getting."
Donnelly said sales of bottled water had been affected by the downturn for most of last year, and were down about 5 per cent for the first nine months of 2009, but the last quarter of 2009 had seen the category rise 16 per cent.
Concerns about the quality and availability of municipal water suppliers had driven bulk buys of water, in supermarkets in particular, he said.
Ballygowan is gaining share, he added and now had an all-time high of 60 per cent share in the on-trade, and a share ‘‘in the mid-20s’’ in shops.
Donnelly said that, apart from the straight fundraising, awareness levels of the Marie Keating charity should be improved by the measure.
Ronan Keating, who established the charity after his mother’s death from breast cancer, is supporting the drive, and several other Irish celebrities have signed up for future promotions.
Donnelly paid tribute to McConnells Integrated, Ballygowan’s advertising agency since its launch, which created the campaign.
‘‘What we have here is a longstanding Irish agency partnering a long-standing Irish brand helping out an Irish charity," said Donnelly.
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