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New Leicester drinks company launch with marketing support from Connect Midlands
22/05/2009
A new drinks company, Cell, has launched in Leicester, as the city becomes the first in the country to trial the new brand.
Cell alcoholic drinks will be sold from vending machines and instead of bottles; the drinks will come in pouches that also offer “anti-spike” protection.
The new brand is a completely home-grown success story, as the managing director of the company marketing the drinks is ex De Montfort student, Luke Pulford. The Cell brand idea has already won start-up business awards across the East Midlands and recently won the Shell Monthly LiveWIRE Grand Ideas Award.
The brand is being tested in Leicester, at De Montfort’s Union Bar, before being rolled out to venues across the country later this year.
Vital financial support for Cell has come from Connect Midlands, a not-for-profit network, backed by emda and part-funded by the ERDF that supports technology and high growth companies in gaining investment.
“Connect Midlands has supported Cell from day one and offered valuable consultancy and financial support,” explains Cell MD Luke Pulford.
“Without this support in the early stages of the company’s development, we would not be in such a strong position now’.
One of the key elements of the launch, that Connect Midlands is funding, is the marketing campaign. This relies heavily on internet based marketing and is vitally important to the brand’s success.
Paul Jenkinson, regional manager of Connect Midlands explains;
“Cell is being launched into a very competitive market with lots of brands that are well established and have large marketing budgets to promote them.
“Cell offers something very new and exciting to the market but it is a new brand, so having an innovative, targeted marketing campaign is the key to communicating its benefits”.
Video clips promoting the brand will appear on social networking sites and it is hoped that this, along with other strong promotional activity, will generate excellent sales.
Submitted by Sarah Crennell