Thatchers and Aardman Deliver Cider Ad Sparkle

Thatchers Cider is a brand with a strong track record of advertising that reflects their care and commitment to their products. Often it’s been Martin Thatcher himself, owner of the family business, who’s taken a cameo role in their ads to bring home to viewers that this is a staunchly local company where quality and reputation matters.

It’s an approach that’s given them a string of high-scoring ads on our Test Your Ad platform, including one ad which scored 5.0-Stars – making them the first UK Cider Brand to hit that milestone. That ad, from 2023, was created in collaboration with Aardman Studios, another great British brand who believe quirkiness and quality are natural partners.

Now Aardman and Thatchers have teamed up again, under the direction of agency Bray Leino, with an ad which steps away from character-based animation to offer a more visual- and vibe-based experience. Can it match their previous outing?

The ad is promoting Thatchers Juicy Apple cider brand, a product whose differentiating point is that it uses sustainably grown apples and sustainable farming methods. The ad talks about this, with its animation of solar panels on the roof of the farm, and the whole spot has a sunny, breezy feel to it thanks to soft pastel colours and smooth animation, where nothing is quite what it seems. The sun becomes a disco ball; a raindrop turns into dew on an apple’s skin, and the overall mood is one of chilled-out, summery pleasure (if you’re reading this in the Great British rain, don’t worry: the ad launched in May!)

It’s a step away from the more traditional Thatchers iconography of smiling farmers and happy dogs – though they’re still there if you look carefully – but this more abstract approach is just as emotionally rich. In fact, on our Test Your Ad platform this ad equals the 5.0-Star Rating of Thatchers previous Aardman ad, meaning the brand have now made both of the only 5-Star cider ads we’ve ever seen, both showing exceptional potential for share gain from these ads.

Thatchers also perform extremely well on short-term and brand recognition, with an Exceptional Spike Rating predicting high short-term sales growth potential, and a strong Brand Fluency meaning 93% of viewers link the ad to the brand.

The average UK beer and cider ad scores 3.0-Stars: it’s a category lots of brands do quite well in but where few perform exceptionally. Thatchers is clearly one of those exceptions, and offers a lesson to other brands in the category. It combines imagery that’s mainstream for cider – apples, sunshine, the countryside – with a personal touch and an attention to detail that helps its ads stand out and bring real happiness to viewers.