The soft drink industry appears to be in a bit of a pickle. A feature in last week’s Grocer magazine, focused on the sector and appears to show a marketplace in some confusion
The soft drinks sector is huge – worth over £14 billion in the UK alone. It is a massively competitive and unlikely to be disappearing any time soon. With the world’s population growing and growing, soft drinks brands have a compelling reason to win the battle of the brands.
With more than 150 soft drink brands active in the UK marketplace alone, it really is a case of who will step up to be counted and who will step down quietly, from the supermarket shelves?
First, let’s look at the topic of sugar, not just the elephant in the room, but a virtual stampede!
Over the years, pretty much all soft drink brands have responded to shifting consumer tastes and government pressures by reducing the amount of sugar in their products or, offering sugar-free alternatives. The idea being, that we can all choose to significantly reduce our calorie intake and stave off the inevitable ‘couch designed’ decline
So naturally, there has been a shift in consumer preference towards reduced sugar alternatives.
However, things are not so cut and dry.
Energy drinks, (which contain about the same amount of sugar as a standard coke) are seeing continued growth. Growth which shows no sign of abating.
Overall – value sales of energy drinks are up 10.6% on volumes up 9.7%
This is huge – massive even.
Yet some brands are seeing growth way, way beyond this – for example AG Barr’s ‘Rockstar’ brand is seeing sales growth of 111% on volumes up 133%
So how have they done it?
In a nutshell, positioning. These drinks are not ‘soft drinks’ but ‘energy’ drinks and therefore perform an entirely unique (and useful) role compared to the rest of the soft drink establishment, by way of added stimulants that often include, caffeine, taurine & guarana).
So clearly the message is that we all need to reduce our sugar intake, unless we happen to be active. In which case, we probably should take on an extra, sugar-fuelled, energy boost to provide us that competitive edge!
Confusing?
Jim Cregan of ‘Jimmi’s Iced coffee’ sums it up best:
“People aren’t just buying soft drinks these days, they’re buying experiences”
Consumers are no longer making purchasing decisions based upon simple factors such as ‘taste’ or ‘value’. Today’s multi-faceted consumer is a much more dynamic and interchangeable beast.
Today’s consumer expects much more from brands. They want products to be a reflection of who they are and what they are about. They want products that match and compliment their ever evolving, ever demanding, individual lifestyles.
We are told that we can do it all, have the body, the relationship, the family life, the lifestyle, the career, the leisure time and have no problem coping with the endless plate spinning modern life demands
When a product becomes a perceived solution for some of life’s many challenges, consumers will buy it.
So what can soft drink brands do?
Let’s take a look at a couple of examples; Red Bull and Rockstar.
Over the years, Red Bull have been responsible for some of the most interesting, engaging and exciting brand experiences ever created. Most recently, this culminated with one of the most incredible feats of human endeavour ever performed when Felix Baumgartner jumped 39km to become the first human ever to break the speed of sound.
These type of events and stunts communicate Red Bull’s brand values in the most compelling way possible. If ever there was a key message of ‘anything is possible’ with Red Bull – this was it.
But Red Bull are about more than just death defying stunts. Long before Felix, Red Bull were creating consumer events across the world, such as the infamous soap box races and the ever popular Flugtag events. Brand experiences such as these allowed Red Bull’s fans to participate and be a part of the Red Bull experience.
In doing so, Red Bull become more than just a drinks brand – they become a focus of aspiration for many people who just want to absorb some of that magic.
Rockstar energy drinks are another extreme lifestyle brand who have been incredibly busy the last few years aligning themselves with a dazzling array of sporting and music events. Rockstar make sure that each event and artist they are involved with is in some way extreme. Be it Moto GP, MMA, Mountain Biking, Skateboarding, Boxing, Wakeboarding… (the list goes on)
The important thing for Rockstar is that they are always busy, always active, all year round. This omnipresent activity shows that they have a relentless ‘rockstar’ energy themselves.
They know where to find their target audience and they make sure that there is only one energy drink brand being talked about at these events. Face to face engagement is how they make sure they remain authentic, human and relevant.
If consumers these days are buying an ‘experience’ soft drink brands need to look at what they can do to ensure they are aligned with a particular activity or experience.
Very few drink brands really own any kind of consumer activity. Red bull as an exception certainly own the events that they have created. Alcohol brands may often be affiliated closely with a sport they are sponsoring, but this association doesn’t tend to last or develop beyond far beyond a basic brand awareness.
With so many sports and activities happening all year round, brands could create their own consumer-led popular sporting events. Create tournaments & championships that encourage more of us to get involved take part. Start creating communities who interact offline and interact with one another.
When brands are able do this successfully, the event gives back. Brands benefit from a wealth of content and user generated experience. Stories are both born and bought to life. But it will mean getting involved far beyond the provision of a giant logo.
Many leading brands invest huge proportions of budget into sponsorship, but how often do we really see brands truly immerse themselves in a consumer lifestyle and make it their own?
Coca Cola spends millions every four years, sponsoring the Olympic Games – the greatest sporting event imaginable. It has actually done so since 1928, which is a longer associate than any other brand. Yet how many of us really think of Coca Cola as a sporting brand?
Somewhere there is a disconnect with an audience and when that happens, you run the risk of being viewed with a degree of anti-corporate cynicism.
Thinking beyond isolated experience and committing fully to aligning themselves with a specific lifestyle will ensure that consumers view them as the answer to a specific need they have. If a brand can ‘own’ a lifestyle choice in the eyes of an audience, they not only dominate this sector – their loyal fans will happily record, share and promote their experience with everybody in their network.
If brands really want to be an integral part of the everyday lives of their customers and develop genuine brand advocacy – they need to start thinking beyond consumer speed dating. Today’s consumer is receptive to listening to what you have to say, but
Hotcow is a multi-award winning Experiential Marketing agency. We get brands in front of consumers in ways that persuade them to buy. We fully implement our ideas; nothing needs to be farmed out. For more information or free consultation, contact us
