drink tank - Bray Leino

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WELCOME
SPONSORSHIPS/
PARTNERSHIPS
REBRANDING
NPD
IN THE AISLE
ON-TRADE
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welcome
TO THE SHOP
FLOOR
Chris O’Donoghue, CEO, Mongoose
Drink Tank is our regular round-up of the UK’s FMCG and on-trade promotional activity in the drinks sector. And with
summer well on the way, with sporting events galore, this quarter’s Drink Tank focusses on sponsorship. It remains to be
seen what the strategic implications of recent revelations and upheavals within FIFA will be for brands. Long-term, it may
not make too much difference: the world loves football; but for now there’ll be an inevitable reticence for any brand
to associate with the toxicity of alleged corruption. And for those that stay, as the US and Swiss investigations continue
to rack up casualties, you can be sure that recalculation and renegotiation will be key terms on the agenda.
Chris O’Donoghue, CEO of Sports & Entertainment
agency Mongoose, looks forward to a bumper season.
At this time of year, our thoughts turn to the traditional
season of events that bring out the best of being
British, especially within the sports marketing industry.
The summer tennis and cricket events, for instance,
provide a perfect platform for drinks sponsors, evident in the
ever-present Champagne, Pimms and cider sponsorships.
This summer there is an extra player in the mix, with
England Rugby’s warm-up games for the Rugby
World Cup (RWC) coming to Twickenham in August.
These introduce additional consumer touch points and
activation opportunities for beer and ale brands.
Heineken, official beer of the RWC, will inevitably be driving
activation through the summer. Be it through the Webb
Ellis Trophy Tour when it comes to the UK on 7th June,
or throughout the tournament itself, expect to see the
brand harnessing the social power of groups and the raw
emotion that a world class tournament brings to home soil.
What is important, as always, is ensuring that the activations
go deeper. At Bray Leino Sports Marketing we expect to
see more than just product placement and pouring rights.
We want to deliver layers of organic conversation with
end consumers; generating actionable data and insight
that we can apply to drive business growth.
As Guinness, the official beer of the RFU, and Heineken
go head to head to capture a nation ramping up with
Rugby World Cup fever, we predict an exciting few
months for spectators of both rugby and marketing.
There has been a resurgence in grass roots initiatives
within the soft drinks category, with a focus on getting
children off their sofas and onto the playing field.
Coca-Cola, official soft drink of the Rugby World Cup,
has generated a campaign around movement, harnessing the
excitement of a global sporting event to motivate people
to move more.
Brands that effectively communicate the benefits of
involvement in a sport at a grass roots level, like Budweiser’s
Club Futures programme, can effectively generate
meaningful, lasting engagements with fans.
Grass roots programmes are a key part of any integrated
sponsorship campaign no matter what category, what
sport or how big the budget. Building a campaign from
the ground up and supporting the foundations of a sport
is a very effective and fast way of building credibility as a
sponsor, and also contributing to internal CSR objectives.
Regardless of your tipple or brand preference, the next
six months of UK sporting events will be an extremely
interesting time to see which activation campaign resonates
most with consumers and which brand can harness the
prevailing winds to best dominate the landscape.
If you’d like to explore sponsorship opportunities or
promotional possibilities for your brand, please get in
touch with the Mongoose team at:
info@mongooseagency.com
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We think: As ever the best partnerships are those that not only deliver
a salient message in the right context (and indeed score a tasty distribution deal)
but go further and actively build the image of the brand. For that reason,
our favourite this season is the Guinness Rugby World Cup activation,
where they’ve effortlessly brought to life their brand idea ‘Made of More’, creating
original content in a subject area their audience will relish. The Belevedere deal
sponsorships/
partnerships
caught our eye also, creating a version of the product to cement the association
between the brand and the elusive Bond mystique. Read more about both
activations over the next few pages.
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is the official sponsor for this year’s Rugby
World Cup (being held in England for the first time since
1991). This will see the brand become the soft drink,
sports drink and water supplier during the tournament.
This deal will mark almost two decades as a partner of
the world’s most iconic rugby event for Coca-Cola and
will also see international rugby star Brian O’Driscoll
team up with the brand. Coca-Cola will hold a number of
events and competitions in the run up to the tournament.
This sponsorship deal adds to Coca-Cola’s high profile
sponsorships for events such as the Olympic Games and
FIFA World Cup.
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sponsorships/
partnerships
Guinness
Guinness is the official partner of Premiership Rugby.
Recently they launched four ads which show a different
side to the game.
The core messages in the films highlight the emotions
and determination it takes to be great, whether you’re
a player or ‘the voice of rugby’.
Guinness do a great job of pulling at the consumers’
heart strings with their heartfelt ads without overtly
promoting the Guinness brand.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6PsOY3TERzRLunOdFmx71VB4ezpgjtFZ
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sponsorships/
partnerships
Crabbie’s
Crabbie’s is now in its second year as the official sponsor
of the Grand National. This high profile sponsorship
has provided Crabbie’s with a platform to reach a UK
terrestrial television audience of around nine million
on Channel 4. This sponsorship has become one of the
cornerstones of the marketing programme for Crabbie’s
both in the UK and internationally.
Budweiser becomes Official Beer
Partner of The FA Cup
The Football Association has announced a new long-term
agreement with Budweiser, which will see the brand
become the Official Beer Partner of The FA Cup until 2018.
As the Official Beer, Budweiser will continue to bring
the world’s most prestigious cup competition closer
to the fans through an exciting programme of activity.
This will include a continuation of the Budweiser Club
Futures programme, which has invested £1m into
non-league football over two seasons and was supported
by The FA and the League Manager’s Association.
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TV/Film
Belvedere Vodka signs James Bond deal
Belvedere Vodka have been announced as a drinks
partner for the upcoming James Bond film ‘Spectre’,
sponsorships/
partnerships
in what will be its biggest global marketing campaign
to date. The LVMH-owned vodka brand will release
a range of promotions and activations ahead of the film,
due for release in November 2015, as well as two 1.75
litre limited edition bottles.
A limited run of 100 bottles featuring an image of MI6,
with its signature blue colouring swapped for the spy
agency’s green ink will be launched. None of the 100
bottles will be available for sale, but will be gifted to
Bond aficionados and donated to charity auctions.
A second limited edition bottle, a twist on Belvedere’s
metallic and illuminated Silver Sabre bottles, will go on
sale next year to a wider market.
Grant’s Signature
Grant’s have recently announced a £1.2m TV sponsorship
deal with Sky Sports for their Grant’s Signature. The deal
includes TV, online and sponsorship for each of Sky
Sports’ UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier matches.
The above-the-line investment has formed part of
a significant awareness push of the new expression.
Ali Cloudsdale, brand manager at William Grant and
Sons UK, states, “Grant’s Signature quickly secured
listings in the top multiple grocers and we’ve seen
positive results since its launch last year.”
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sponsorships/
partnerships
Good Call!
Stella Artois
At the beginning of this year, Foster’s announced
Stella Artois have also partnered with Channel 4 this
that it is to sponsor Original Comedy on Channel 4.
year. This partnership will see the brand take over
The multi-million pound, one year partnership
the entire ad break before Channel 4’s popular 9pm
was launched on the 2nd February with a bespoke
Saturday night film lot. This ad break will be dedicated
Foster’s-inspired Channel 4 logo and welcome spot.
to trailers for upcoming box office releases.
This renewed partnership will see bespoke Foster’s ad
The dedicated break will air weekly between two Stella
breaks as well as Foster’s idents around 4oD and flagship
Artois spots lasting 15” and 30” each. Viewers will then
Channel 4 shows including 8 Out of 10 Cats, Alan Carr:
be encouraged to tweet their trailer reviews using the
Chatty Man and the last ever series of Peep Show.
hashtag #StellaArtois4Cinema for the chance to win
premiere tickets.
The first spot launched at the beginning of April and will
continue on Saturdays right through to mid-December.
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Events/Charities
sponsorships/
partnerships
Kopparberg
Crabbie’s — Help for Heroes
Kopparberg have recently announced they will be the
Crabbie’s have recently partnered with Help for Heroes.
official sponsor of We Love Shows.
One of their first initiatives is to raise a million pounds to
‘We Love’ shows are curated and hosted by Kal Lavelle
aid the charity’s work providing support to wounded,
and showcase the newest, rawest musical talent. Past
injured and sick servicemen and women and their
shows include acts like Ed Sheeran.
families. The partnership was launched at this year’s
Grand National.
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Luxury Pop-ups
sponsorships/
partnerships
Rémy
La Maison Rémy Martin also opened late last year on
Greek Street in London’s Soho district. For two weeks,
the five-floor venue hosted celebrities including Idris
Elba and Yasmin Le Bon, held workshops on crafts
such as guitar making and perfumery and served up
specially-created Rémy Martin cocktails from two
fully-stocked bars.
Diageo
Diageo recently turned a London landmark into
a private club for its David Beckham-backed Haig Club
Scotch Whisky. Haig Club London was a week-long
residency at the Wellington Arch and served cocktails
featuring Haig Club. Entrance was by invitation only and
included people Beckham met while launching Haig
Club in Asia.
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We think: The unstoppable force of global marketing captures another
two brands this quarter. The Coke rebrand obviously makes sense – there
must be multiplier effects galore to be had by unifying the sub brands. Let’s
Rebranding
just hope they don’t compromise the distinctive identities of these sub brands
they’ve taken so long to build; from the look of the packaging they seem to
have done a nice job. We’ve always been interested that Somersby had a
different strategy in the UK versus the rest of the world – a Somerset-style
cider made in Denmark was always a tricky thing to pull – but in this case the
global communications and content seem to hit the mark well.
Coca-Cola — One Brand
Coca-Cola recently announced that they will be unifying
The strategy will also see media investment in the lower,
the Coca-Cola portfolio of products, this includes
no sugar and low calorie variants of Coca-Cola doubled.
Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero and Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola have also recently announced that they will
Life. The new “one brand” strategy promotes the full
be scrapping their UK-centric website in favour of their
choice of Coca-Cola variants.
existing global platform, Journey, as part of their new
This choice to unify the products comes from their
‘one brand’ strategy, with a focus on both branded and
recent research showing that not all British consumers
non-branded content. fully understand the choice offered within the Coca-Cola
trademark and the distinct benefits of each brand.
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Somersby Online
Somersby are also undergoing a refresh in terms
of branding to align the UK look and feel with their
European identity.
They have made this change in line with launching three
new fruit variants: Apple Burst, Cranberry and Blackberry.
David Scott, Director of Brand and Insight at Carlsberg
UK, said: “Somersby Cider is the fastest-growing cider
brand in the world, available in over 40 markets,
with year-on-year growth of 41% across the brand.
This gives us the confidence to invest £7m in a new
marketing campaign that will truly bring Somersby Cider
to the fore for our on-trade customers and ultimately,
for consumers.”
Rebranding
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We think: It looks as if the recent mainstream criticism of sugar and the declining
trends in alcohol consumption amongst the highly social 18-24 group means we might
finally have reached a tipping point in the adult soft drink category. Every brand
worth its salt is developing a naturally sugar-free proposition. With ciders, on the
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other hand, it’s a case of ‘plus ça change’ – the ever decreasing circle of fruit flavours
underlines how much this category is defined by the novel or the new. We keep
thinking there’s got to be a paradigm shift to a new category after the fruit cider
boom, but what it will actually look like is the multimillion pound question.
Low Calorie Soft Drinks
Statistics in the Grocer’s recent Soft Drink Report show
42% of people avoid added sugar in soft drinks but think
that naturally occurring sweeteners are fine. Consumers are
now actively seeking low calorie drinks which have no
artificial sweeteners. The on-going trend shows no signs
of slowing down and this has seen another wave of brands
releasing their own contribution to the new ‘light’ market.
Schweppes
Schweppes have added sparkling juice drinks to their
range in the licensed trade alongside a new marketing
campaign for the mixers brand. The new range includes
Grapefruit & Blood Orange and Lemon & Elderflower
variants, which were available from April.
They are being promoted as containing fewer calories
than some other products in the adult drinks sector,
with 20 calories per 100ml. The launch is being
J2O — New Variants
Britvic have launched a lightly sparkling brand extension
for its J2O brand, called J20 Spritz. They say it’s their bid
to answer the demand for more excitement and choice in
adult soft drinks. It will be supported by a £1.5m marketing
campaign, which includes in-outlet activation, a celebrity
partnership, social media activity and digital advertising.
supported by behind-the-bar point-of-sale materials.
It coincides with a multi-million pound advertising campaign
for the Schweppes brand, targeting a younger adult
audience with a new, witty tone of voice and ad strapline,
“Separating men from boys, separating women from girls”.
The advertising campaign will run from the end of April
across on-demand TV, cinema, digital and outdoor media.
The new variant will be available in 275ml bottles across
the UK in three flavours: Pear & Raspberry, Apple &
Watermelon and Peach & Apricot. One serving contains
only 55 calories.
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npd
Innocent Bubbles
Innocent Smoothies, owned by Coca-Cola,
Innocent Bubbles is a blend of sparkling water and
have launched a new flavoured sparkling water
natural fruit juice and is positioned as an alternative
in an attempt to secure further market share in
to sugary soft drinks. The new variant is only 95 calories
the competitive drinks sector.
and one of your five-a-day.
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Fruit ciders
Stella Artois Cidre
npd
Stella Artois Cidre has announced the launch of two
new variants, Stella Artois Cidre Peach and Stella Artois
Cidre Elderflower.
The Peach variant will be sold in single 500ml bottles
alongside 330ml bottles in four and eight pack formats.
Stella Artois Cidre Elderflower will be sold in 500ml only. Bulmers
Bulmers have launched the first blood orange-flavoured
cider in the UK.
Bulmers Zesty Blood Orange is being targeted at 18-24
year olds.
Unsurprisingly, Bulmers claim it has ‘performed brilliantly’
in taste tests. It will be launched with a multi-million
pound outdoor poster campaign and sit within their
‘Live Colourful’ campaign.
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npd
Carling
Brothers
Carling have recently launched a new variant called
To mark 20 years in business, Brothers Cider has
‘Orchard Fruits’ following the popularity of other flavours
launched a new festival-inspired look to their bottles,
such as Peach and Apricot. Orchard Fruits will be
and has released another unique flavour to add to
available in 500ml bottles in both the on and off trade.
their portfolio.
The Orchard Fruits launch is being supported alongside
The new flavour, Coconut & Lime, is the first ever cider
the existing Carling British Cider portfolio with a £5.4m
with coconut to the market. They state this is a response
advertising campaign including TV, outdoor and digital.
to the growing consumer trend for coconut water.
They describe it as a light, clean and refreshing taste,
with real coconut water and lime juice – perfect for
a summer’s day. Coconut water is now a £100m market
in the UK, according to Data Monitor, and this is expected
to grow to £193m by 2019.
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New Apple Cider Trend
Although the fruit cider market is continuing to grow, there seems to have
been a renewed focus on apple ciders, with many brands releasing traditional
and modern takes on the classic apple cider.
npd
Rekorderlig —­ New Variant
Strongbow
Rekorderlig have released a new variant to their
Strongbow have just announced the
portfolio, Dry Äpple, which will be available on draught
launch of what they call a ‘posh version’
and in 330ml bottles. Rekorderlig Dry Äpple is described
of their standard Strongbow Cider.
as “an innovative take on the classic apple flavour”
The cloudy cider is 4.5% ABV and made
and has a crisp, clean finish.
from bittersweet apples. It is being
positioned as a premium version
Thatchers
of Strongbow.
Thatchers have also released two new cider variants
The launch will be supported by POS
in their bid to bridge the gap between apple and fruit
and glassware, followed by a multi-million
ciders. Thatchers Red and Thatchers
pound campaign later this year supporting
Somerset Haze are aimed at a
the entire Strongbow brand.
younger audience, giving drinkers
who may have entered the market
via fruit cider an accessible
traditional apple cider.
The launches will be supported
throughout this year by branded
POS, sampling events,
festival activity and merchandise,
which includes clothing.
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We think: The at-home drinking experience improves yet further with
pre-mix cocktails and slushy pouches, and we suspect this is just the start
of a growing trend in weird and wonderful formats and liquids.
in the
aisle
Frozen Pouches
Following Smirnoff’s release of frozen pouches, sales
of freeze pouches have more than trebled from £5m to
£16m over the course of the past year. They account for
almost half of the £11.4m increase in total take-home
RTD sales. As you would expect they are especially
popular during summer. Last year, rates of sale of freeze
pouches were one and a half times higher during this
key trading period than at other times of the year.
Many brands have now followed suit, releasing their
own frozen pouches.
Kopparberg
Kopparberg have announced the launch of Kopparberg
Frozen Fruit Cider. It will be available in Strawberry & Lime
and Elderflower & Lime. They state, “the stylish drink
provides the ultimate mix of invigorating fruity flavours
and absolute refreshment and sits neatly alongside the
brand’s current range of premium Swedish ciders.”
They are the first cider brand to release a frozen pouch.
WKD Freeze Pouches
SHS Drinks are bringing a new element of fun and
excitement to the at-home consumption experience
with the launch of a new freeze pouch pack format
for their ever popular WKD Original Blue.
The 250ml freeze pouch was released in April to all
take-home sectors.
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in the
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RTD
The aisles are currently full of RTDs but the majority
of these are now in pre-mixed cans rather than the usual
bottles. According to Future Foundation; “as disposable
incomes recover and price becomes a (slightly) less
potent primary motivator, the pre-measured nature
of RTDs and the associated ease in tracking both units
and calories is likely to ensure their continued popularity.”
They also state that there is continued growth and
popularity in the RTD category compared to its
slump a few years ago. There aren’t many brands
established out there now who haven’t got a premixed
or RTD on offer.
From a consumer standpoint, RTDs offer numerous
benefits including:
• The opportunity to emulate the out-of-home
drinking experience in-home
• A lower price point
• A convenient and easy way to consume
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in the
aisle
Full Size Adventures
Sainsbury’s ran a competition to
win ‘adventures’ when purchasing
a half size bottle of selected spirits.
This included brands such as Grant’s,
Absolut and Hendrick’s Gin.
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Coors Light
Coors Light recently ran an on-pack promotion to win
tickets to see UK Drum & Bass outfit Rudimental. To be
in with a chance, consumers needed to enter
their unique code from
a promotional pack online.
Although the competition
has recently closed,
consumers can still use
their codes to be in
with a chance to win
Rudimental’s album.
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We think: In the on-trade it’s nice to see some brands doing things a little
differently: WKD’s gonzo approach to St Patrick’s Day shows how Guinness are
(perhaps) becoming a little complacent about their ubiquity around the festival.
on-trade
St Patrick’s Day
Guinness
On-trade kits
According to the Guinness owner Diageo, publicans
could have sold up to 100 extra pints of beer during
the recent St Patrick’s Day celebration.
Guinness accounted for 34% of incremental up-lift
in 2014, and to help boost sales again on the recent
celebrations, they distributed St Patrick’s Day kits
to 10,000 venues. Worth around £30 each, the kits
contained flags, bunting and branded hats.
St Patrick’s weekend
Guinness also ran a St Patrick’s weekend at their
Guinness storehouse from Saturday 14th March until
Tuesday 17th. It included four days of live music,
food and drink sampling, Six Nations Rugby,
live marching bands and more.
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Jameson
Pernod Ricard UK also supported bars and pubs during
the run-up to St Patrick’s Day, with bespoke vessels
shaped like barrels for serving Jameson Whiskey with
a pint of beer.
The mini barrel vessels were designed to hook onto any
existing glassware to create the Jameson Barrel Back
serve – a shot of whiskey alongside a beer in the style
of a classic boilermaker.
They distributed a range of new point-of-sale solutions
for the on-trade in the lead-up to St Patrick’s
Day. It also included bunting, integrated beer and
shot-glass mats and materials providing customers
with instructions on how to drink the serve.
WKD
WKD gave thousands of shamrock-shaped hats to
bars and pubs as part of their St Patrick’s Day activity.
They made the WKD Shamrock Head available
to licensees to help them maximise what brand owner
SHS Drinks sees as the “ever-growing” sales opportunity
of the Irish celebration.
The promotion offered a “Free Genuine Irish Shamrock
Head (Made in China)” when consumers bought two
bottles of WKD. This was also supported by humorous
point-of-sale items.
on-trade