A Ceredigion-based meadery is to launch its first-ever TV advertising campaign.
Afon Mêl is to advertise its mead after benefiting from Sky’s SME100 support scheme.
The New Quay drinks firm is one of 100 small businesses across the UK that have been selected to benefit from the SME100 scheme, receiving £20,000 of free Adsmart TV advertising across Sky Media’s channels, alongside a free 12-month superfast business broadband and digital phone package through Sky Connect, Sky’s new B2B telecoms business.
Family-run bee farm Afon Mêl, which was established in 1995 and offers a variety of raw honey, preserves and meads, will now launch its first TV advertising campaign later in the year.
The 30-second advertisement will be produced by Swansea-based company The Content Creators and will exclusively reach the company’s target audience.
The advert will focus on Afon Mêl’s new range of meads, helping to raise the public profile of mead as an artisan drink.
As a small business located in the heart of west Wales, the pandemic has been a tough time for the business.
“We would usually welcome around 30,000 holiday visitors to our farm every year, bringing essential revenue to our business, but instead, like many others, we closed our doors to keep our team and visitors safe,” said Sam Cooper, director and owner of Afon Mêl.
“Thankfully, we received overwhelming support not only from our existing business customers but also from new businesses and most importantly our loyal online customers.
“Winning an opportunity to advertise on TV with Sky AdSmart has come at the perfect moment for us as we strive to continue building awareness of our fantastic products. It has given us a golden ticket to trial a format for TV advertising that we are interested in exploring as part of our longer-term marketing plan.”
Sky’s SME100 scheme aims to help small businesses succeed and stay connected to their customers, boosting their recovery as the nation emerges from lockdown. The initiative, which launched last year, takes Sky’s contribution to more than £4.5m in advertising support for small businesses since the start of the pandemic.
The TV campaign is delivered via AdSmart from Sky, the addressable TV platform that enables brands to advertise on TV by focusing on the audiences that matter to them. This technology means a brand can reach households by postcode area, within a designated distance of their store, or by household make-up or lifestyle attributes that best suit their service. In only targeting audiences that matter to the business, brands like Afon Mêl can be assured that their advertising will be relevant, accessible and drive business results.
Mr Cooper added: “Our main message to customers is that although we may be a small, family-run farm, we are also producers of some of the best mead available in the UK.
“We are the only mead producers to have ever won a Great Taste, Golden Fork Award and I believe this is because we approach mead-making as beekeepers. In our eyes, it is important that this classic drink should be made by fermenting 100% honey and we believe there’s an Afon Mêl mead for everyone.
“Sky AdSmart has allowed us to tap into our target market on TV, something we had never done before.”
