Hardys invests £4m in summer of cricket

Hardys has unveiled a new £4 million consumer marketing campaign to tie in with the Australian wine brand’s sponsorship of the English cricket team.

The campaign, which will run alongside the 2015 Ashes series will feature exclusive broadcast sponsorship on Sky Sports throughout this summer’s cricket season, with England stars Sir Ian Botham, Michael Vaughan, Stuart Broad and Alastair Cook all signed up for ambassadorial roles.

Hardys will play on the historic cricket rivalry between England and Australia, with its digital campaign encouraging fans to engage with the brand via either #HardysENG or #HardysAUS to win prizes.

Paul Schaafsma, general manager of Accolade Wines, which owns the brand, commented: “It has been a fantastic first year for Hardys, and England cricket, and now the second year is off to a great start with England’s success against New Zealand.

“We are delighted to be extending our agreement with Sir Ian Botham, as a cricket ambassador for the brand, and to be working with Michael Vaughan and, bowler Stuart Broad, for the first time.”

The move comes in the middle of Hardys’ three-year sponsorship deal with the English cricket team as the brand claims a 5.7% share of the UK wine market, 30% larger than its closest competitor.

Recent years have seen Hardys embark on an upmarket push for its portfolio. Nielsen data to the end of April 2015 shows that the brand’s value sales have risen by 10.5% in the last year, with over 60 million bottles sold and UK off-trade revenues of £316.5m.

Commenting on the brand’s performance Schaafsma said: “Hardys continues to be the UK’s number one wine brand. The brand’s performance goes from strength to strength and in the past 12 months we have sold 6 million bottles more than in the previous year.”