Britvic’s Club Mixers range has played a central role in Irish pub culture since 1852.
This year, to celebrate the portfolio’s 165th birthday, Britvic has re-launched the iconic brand across the island of Ireland with, among other things, new packaging,
an improved tonic recipe, and a refreshed brand identify.
An Iconic Tonic

The Club Mixers portfolio offers a wide range of flavours that are best enjoyed served chilled, over ice, and with your garnish of choice. It includes tonics, as well as soda water, lemonade, bitter lemon and the classic ginger ale. All of these liquids have been developed and enhanced following extensive consumer consultation. For its tonics range, Club listened to both customers and consumers to develop great tasting tonics to lift consumer’s spirits – in both senses of the word. Club’s new tonics are skilfully blended with crisp citrus notes and balanced with a distinct fizz. Similarly, the Slimline Tonic is based on the original recipe and has a crisp and refreshing taste, but with fewer calories per sip – and the Club Mixers’ soda water is both bubbly and refreshing

Inventor of Ginger Ale in Belfast

Club Mixers Irish heritage goes back to Belfast in 1852 when Club invented a world first – ginger ale. During the 1850s, ginger beer was widely available and often cloudy due to the residues of brewing – and it had a stronger ginger taste. The Club Belfast team perfected the production of ginger ale with its signature dark colour, sweet taste, strong ginger spice flavour, and smooth liquid. Club Ginger Ale went on to be marketed with ‘The Original Makers of Ginger Ale’ embossed on its bottles. At the time, local doctors described it as ‘sparkling and clear as the choicest champagne,’ and as having ‘a most agreeable odour, perfectly free from any intoxicating quality, and yet eminently warming and invigorating, pleasant to the taste and pleasant to look at.’ Ginger Ale was added to many of the soda waters and tonics that Club produced at that time. In fact, Club Soda and Club Ginger Ale were globally recognised for their quality and awarded 32 gold medals at exhibitions in Paris, Jamaica, Liverpool and New York during the 1890s. Following the worldwide recognition and awards, Club Mixers were embraced by the White Star Line and sold on the Titanic.

Mixers Relaunch

The Club Mixers 2017 brand re-launch includes new packaging, an improved tonic recipe, two iconic bottles in the shape of 125ml and 200ml, and a refreshed brand identity that will be supported through-the-line. “The new non-returnable Club Mixers bottle is modern, with a sleek design that features broad confident shoulders on the bottle neck, accompanied by 1852 embossed on the end of the bottle to add to the premium finish,” says Stephen Cramp, Marketing Controller, Britvic Ireland. “The 200ml format is one of the market’s fastest growing SKUs as it offers customers a convenient size to cater for both single and double measures. Club will now be available in this 200ml format across a range of variants, including Tonic, Slimline Tonic, Soda water and Ginger Ale. The new bottles are complemented by new livery across the range that use metallic labels which reflect the premium quality of the liquid contained inside. The new livery has bold, strong colours which, coupled with the metallic labels on both the body and neck, allow the bartender to easily navigate through the range on the back bar. As well as introducing beautiful metallic-finished labels, Club have increased the over panel size of the label for maximum impact.” These new non-returnable 125ml and 200ml bottles are available in cases of 24. “The Club Mixers brand has an incredible heritage dating back to 1852, so what better time to celebrate that than on the year of our 165th year anniversary,” says Stephen. “We really believe that our improved liquids, coupled with our strong range, new non-returnable bottles and new look and feel, will help to lift Irish spirits.”

Category Investment

To further grow and excite the category, Club Mixers will be supported by a significant marketing campaign that will include experiential and sampling marketing, consumer PR, trade press, point of purchase communications, and digital support. During the summer, Club Mixers will be showcasing its improved liquid and bottle to consumers at several events. “This move is the first in a series of investments that are in the pipeline as Club Mixers looks to reconnect with the consumer through the brand’s unique heritage, new look, improved liquids and support plan,” says Stephen. “The new bottles and improved liquid will be available from April onwards and can be ordered through your Counterpoint Representative. Club Mixers are the perfect accompaniment to spirits, expertly designed to blend deliciously with gins, vodkas and whiskeys, or even to be enjoyed on their own over ice. Why not try the new Club Tonic with your gin of choice, served over ice, with a slice of cucumber and cracked black peppercorns, or Club Ginger Ale with your favourite Irish whiskey, garnished with a wedge of lemon – and plenty of ice.”