A new brand extension by C&C is set to bring yet another alcopop onto the shelves. The company is extending its WKD range to include 'Silver', a citrus flavour, which it says should appeal to a more sophisticated audience. There are at present two other flavours in the range, Blue and Iron Bru - and both are sweet tasting. Bernice Harrisson reports

The alcopop sector is a lucrative and fast-growing one. It has an annual retail value of €85 million and is growing at around 10 per cent per year. Contrast this with the beer market, which has been in a steady 1-2 per cent decline over the past number of years.

In his Budget yesterday, the Minister for Finance Mr McCreevy treated alcopops in a category of their own by adding a new tax of 35 cent per bottle.

Alcopops have only 1 per cent of the total market making it a relatively insignificant product category. Since C&C introduced WKD into the Irish market 18 months ago it has won a market share of 25 per cent in a sector dominated by Smirnoff Ice followed by Bacardi Breezer.

Not that any alcohol marketers refer to these drinks as alcopops any more. In the industry they are called the Premium Prepackaged Sector (PPS). When these pre- mixed drinks - usually fruit drinks and spirits - first appeared on the market in the early 1990s they quickly became the subject of intense controversy as their obvious attraction to younger drinkers became the subject of debate at Government level.

Several brands were withdrawn but the sector has re-invented itself and continued to grow.

The drinks industry draws a distinction between the old-style alcopops and the new pre-mixed drinks by pointing out that unlike the earlier generation of brands, these clearly advertise their alcohol content by using well- known alcohol brand names in their product titles.

"These PPS brands are no different from drinking a spirit and a mixer, their portability is one of the things that people like," says Ms Deborah Vard, marketing manager at C&C who says that the brand is drunk by 20-35 year olds.

However, there are significant differences in the way the sector is marketed. Earlier this year, Smirnoff Ice on draught was introduced. It would be difficult to imagine the makers of gin introducing pints of gin and tonic or brandy-makers putting brandy and ginger on tap. Gin-makers have attempted pre-mixed gin and tonics but these have not met with significant success in this market.

"Eighty per cent of WKD is sold in pubs which means they are sold in a highly regulated environment," said Ms Vard, adding that C&C is fully supportive of the drinks industry's new strategy called MEIS (Managing Enjoyment in Society). Its aim is to encourage social responsibility when it comes to alcohol and it will be a self-policing body to vet alcohol advertising and the way it is marketed.

The use of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver in Sainsbury's advertising was, according to the UK supermarket group, directly responsible for more than a quarter of its profits last year. The advertising for Sainsbury's generated an extra £1.12 billion (€1.76 billion) in turnover in less than two years from a campaign that cost £41 million. The supermarket estimated that, of its £535 million profit last year, £153 million could be attributed to the celebrity chef's involvement. The announcement was made after the Jamie Oliver campaign won an advertising effectiveness award from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising in London on Monday night.

Newstalk 106FM has launched a poster and press campaign to promote the station's drive time programme, which is hosted by George Hook. The timing of the launch is to coincide with Eamon Dunphy's departure last week from the same time slot from rival station Today FM.

Tourism Ireland has launched an innovative internet advertising campaign, which the all-Ireland marketing group says is the first of its kind in Ireland as well as being the first in the world for the tourism industry.

Using Eyewonder, a new video streaming technology, Tourism Ireland can play an edited version of its global television ad campaign with full audio capability on high-profile UK and US sites and search engines.