The Co-op's Karmel USP for mums to chew on

Like Morrison’s Kiddicare and Tesco’s Tesco Loves Baby, as discussed in my previous post Brands, mums and future generations!, The Co-operative Food are hoping they’ve found a USP that mums can chew on.

On May 14^th 2014, The Co-operative Food unveiled its new web pages dedicated to parents and new mums. The pages contain content that offers expert advice and tips on everyday issues affecting new parents.

It makes sense that The Co-operative Food are producing content for mums to access online, considering the recent trend that sees nearly 90% of mums regularity visiting parenting websites for help. Furthermore, new mothers are more likely than the rest of the population to look for deals and advice on mobile websites.

But why would mums look to “the UK's largest mutual business” for advice on parenting? Karmel, Annabel Karmel. Karmel is one of the UK’s most trusted experts on feeding babies, children and families, the UK’s number one parenting author and baby food and nutrition guru. She’s signed a twelve month contract to act as the face of The Co-operative Food’s parenting pages.

CJ Antal Smith, Head of Commercial for The Co-operative’s baby category said that their “partnership with Annabel Karmel will hopefully attract new shoppers to [their] stores”, as well as “add gravitas to [their] baby website and social media channels for mums and dads nationwide”. You can see why Smith’s said this when you take into consideration that The Co-operative recently launched their own-brand range of nappies. They also have plans to bolster their own-brand baby range later this year.

Although Karmel will be posting articles on The Co-operative Food’s social media sties and doing includes real-time social media chats so that parents can address Karmel on all things parenting, the new parenting pages will need to exist beyond the 12month endorsement. But how?

To launch the new page they’re giving families a chance to win a year’s supply of nappies in an exclusive competition. The page also offers mums recipes, advice and downloadable meal planners. But as I said before, without Karmel, why would mums look to the UK's largest mutual business for advice on parenting? Just because they say they’re good for babies’ doesn’t mean they are.

Only time will tell. Check back in in 12 months. 

Yazoo ‘Hit The Spot’ this May

In the UK (added value milk) flavoured milk penetration is rapidly increasing. Amongst on-the-go shoppers penetration has increased 6.2%, seeing a value growth of 15.2% YTD. Yazoo, a flavoured milk brand produced by Dutch dairy company Campina, looked to capitalise on this newfound interest in flavoured milk.

In order to remain the flavoured milk market leader, Yazoo launched a new £1million ‘Hits the spot’ advertising campaign. The campaign looked to further increase Yazoo’s penetration for on-the-go flavoured milk shoppers, whilst offering retailers a campaign they could sink their teeth into.

Between the 5^th-19^th May Yazoo offered 150,000 Londoners a free bottle of Yazoo with every 'Hits the Spot' mobile coupon. This coupon could be redeemed across 45,000 convenience outlets, in conjunction with I-Movo and Paypoint.

The media used for this camping comprised of 1,500 national bus stops and telephone panels, perfect for disrupting the on-the-go consumer. Consumers were able to obtain their I-Movo secure digital vouchers by texting “Yazoo” to 84555 (don’t try it’s no longer working. Trust me I tried).

Why the flavoured milk sector is growing isn’t something that I would care to hazard a guess at without doing some more digging. Although, this growth is something that surprises me considering consumers are trying to move away from sugary drinks…  

Google Glass in the retail environment

I saw this last month and I thought it was amazing. Imagine if this was everywhere and used by everyone. Terminator and RoboCop spring to mind, but without the death and destruction.

It’s happened time after time, things we see in sci-fi films become a reality. This is well demonstrated by some of the articles and blogs that are already out there, such as How 8 Sci-Fi Gadgets Are Becoming Reality, Top 10 'Star Trek' Technologies That Actually Came True and, one of my own, Incredibly creepy or incredible and creepy?

This particular post looks at the terminator-esque, Hybris Google Glass amalgamation which, in turn, could transform customer service in the retail sector.  As you’ll see from the video, Hybris have now clearly demonstrated how Google Glass can be utilised in the retail environment.

Using the software produced by Hybris, in conjunction with technologies produced by Google (Google Glass) and Apple (iBeacon), our retail environment will change. Sales assistants can now identify a consumer, identify if they’re a valuable consumer and then have information sent to them about the consumers shopping habits. After working in a shop when I was younger, I cannot tell you how useful this would have been!

This technology not only allows for a personalised service but will also increase a brands perceived value. There’s nothing better than sales assistants, who are ultimately brand ambassadors, who know the brand in and out. Seamless perfection comes to mind; making and keeping a promise that matters and therefore setting yourself apart from competitors.

The future of commerce may be changing, but as you can see from the video below, Google Glass could change life as we know it. A bit dramatic I know but you can see where I’m coming from.  

Brazil’s tropical flavours arriving for the World Cup

We all understand that product innovation is the backbone of growth and prosperity for any company. But the key thing to remember is it’s not just about being new or different, it’s about creating brand new products that consumers will adore, giving them something that they can relate to and appreciate. 

This summer, in perfect time for the 2014 World Cup, numerous soft drinks manufactures are innovating, releasing a ‘summer’ flavour. I’m not going to go as far as to say that consumers will ‘adore’ these products but during the World Cup period they can at least appreciate them, sampling Brazil’s exotic flavours here in the UK.

Brands may not be explicitly promoting the World Cup, but whether it’s coincidental or intentional, Brazil’s flavours are here for the summer. Vimto is launching a Strawberry Still variant of its already very successful NAS (No Added Sugar) range. According to their Brand Manager, Clare Brown, “this exciting new seasonal variant to the category… will drive growth with those looking for a refreshing summer flavour.” Consumers will be looking for NAS drinks to keep them refreshed over the summer months, but other brands are actually looking to leverage the ‘World Cup Wave’ of consumerism mentioned in a previous post; Glacéau vitaminwater's World Cup 'Shoot to Win'.

Although Brazil is one of the most important strawberry producers in South America, Strawberries don’t make us think of the tropics. Pineapple however, does. Oasis’s latest innovation is a Pineapple variant of their already successful range of fruity flavours. Pineapple Rush is being released just in time for the World Cup. The new variant has a new pack design, looking to deliver increased impact through refreshment and flavour cues.

Although the new products mentioned above are being released in time for the 2014 Brazil World Cup, they’re both tropical fruit flavours and both of the fruits are grown in Brazil, the link to the World Cup is still tenuous. Just Juice however, had no problems in explicitly riding the ‘World Cup Wave’. Just Juice are launching a limited edition orange, mango and lime “Brazil blend” juice drink this month.

Just Juice aren’t the only company who’ve decided that the ‘World Cup Wave’ is something worth riding. Volvic have released a new variant CoCo Pineapple “inspired by Brazil” and Lucozade have released The Brazilian Mango Mandarin variant.

You’ll notice that none of the products specifically mention football. This is likely to be because the majority of the brands mentioned above aren’t targeted at your typical football fan and we’re also likely to be knocked out of the World Cup and consumers won’t want everything they drink to remind them of football.

On a separate note, Just Juice’s limited edition “Brazil blend” may be capitalising on the football but they haven’t forgotten about the Tennis. Also, on limited edition this Summer is an on-pack promotion to win a personal tennis lesson with John McEnroe. Sounds familiar…

Bad News for the Big Four

On the 8th of April 2014, Kantar Worldpanel, the world leader in consumer knowledge and insights, who monitor over 1.3 million consumers, have some bad news for the UK’s top 4 supermarkets.

With market growth at approximately 1.5%, the big four are experiencing problems in comparison to historical standards, with all four experiencing declining sales over the past 12 weeks (starting from 8th April 2014); the lowest level since July 2010. However, it’s not only sales that are down, they’re losing market share as well!
 
Surely if the market is suffering, and the big four are suffering, then it must be the same for all retailers? Unfortunately it’s not. Aldi and Lidl are breaking records! Aldi’s experienced its best every year with 35.3% growth and a massive 4.6% market share. Lidl are also doing very well with good growth and it’s best ever market share, now at 3.4%.

The growth experienced by Aldi could be, in my opinion, because of their fantastic series of TV spots, produced by McCann Manchester, which depict branded products sold in other retailers, pitted against inexpensive brands found at Aldi.

With the big four experiencing what Edward Garner, Director at Kantar Worldpanel called “worrying share declines”, what’s being done?

Well ASDA are fairly safe as they had the most resistant performance. TESCO’s looking to increase their profits by venturing into different markets. Tesco are looking to launch their Food To Go stores that will compete with the likes of Eat, Greggs and Pret a Manger. Reportedly, Sainsbury’s have recently appointed the Marketing Store, arguably the best ideation, promotional and shopper marketing agency around, to join its roster of agencies.

So, ASDA are safe, I’m not sure what Morrisons have planned, TESCO are expanding (nothing new there) and Sainsbury’s are working with the best in the biz. Check back this time next year to see how everything pans out!

Everybody remembers Panda Pops! Well guess what guys, they’re back!

 In 2011 James Nichols, Panda Pops Brand Manager, scrapped the 35year old range after concerns surrounding the negative perception of fizzy drinks. This was a big move considering that their sales were up 13% in 2010. But, as you know if you’ve read some of my previous posts, mums don’t like sugar, let alone fizzy sugar. Nichols knew this unhealthy perception could kill the brand.

So, here we are in 2014 and on June 1^st Panda will be back in action, relaunching with a fresh new look following extensive research among mums in the UK. The launch sees a new child friendly packaging and Panda design, with the intention of driving reappraisal and trial, whilst simultaneously perpetuating connotations of fun and playfulness.

The hope is that ‘Pragmatic mums’ of 4-8 year old children believe the brand’s healthier positioning by promoting its squashes (available in TESCO) and flavoured waters with their new packaging. With Y-O-Y growth of 6.1% this new launch looks to make Panda a serious contender in the soft drinks market.

Panda’s new Brand Manager, Nina Uttley, has said that in the UK there’s a huge affection for Panda but that mums weren’t aware that “the range contains No Added Sugar and only natural colours and flavours”.

The Panda juice drinks range will be available in Raspberry and Blackcurrant and the Panda Splash range will be available in Blackcurrant and Orange & Pineapple. The Squash range is available in 1ltr Panda Tropical and Summer Fruits.

Evian's Spider-Baby!

Evian have done it again and this time they’re using a super baby!  The worldwide release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 on April 18^th 2014 has been capitalised on by Evian. This may seem like an odd pairing but as described by Elsa De Guzman, Evian’s Global Brand Marketing Manager, “Spider-Man is a universal icon and an essential figure in popular culture”. You can’t argue with that!

Thankfully, Evian stayed true to their iconic ‘baby commercials’. But how? Watch the video below and you will see. Don’t worry; I too was fearful of what a monstrous partnership Evian and Spider-Man could have become. I believe I was mistaken! 

According to Guzman, this partnership came from the insight that Spider-Man is an “approachable superhero, and one through whom you can reconnect with your childhood”.

Already understanding how fruitful the notion of connecting with your inner child is, after the success of their Evian baby&me TVC below, in which adults discovered their reflections as babies, this was a no brainer. 

After all, youth is not a matter of age or years; youth is a state of mind.

Mum, kids and social media

This post touches on mums’ lifestyle in the UK, their media habits and their aspirations for their kids. Currently there are three clearly defined categories of mum. The three ‘categories’ of mum, as defined by Mintel, are as follows:

Time-Poor Mums (30%): Time-Poor Mums are likely to work full-time and are less involved in children’s activities. They’re regretful that they’re unable to spend time with their kids. However, they appreciate the advantages of sending kids to a better school and improving their kid’s chances of landing a good job. 

No-expense-Spared Mums (31%): No-Expense-Spared Mums are the quintessence of a Tiger Mum, encouraging their children to excel academically as well as develop a variety of interests and abilities that surpass the national curriculum. Their well sustained financial situation and the fact that over half are raising just one kid, these mums save more money and provide more for their kids future.

Mum Worriers (39%): Mum Worriers push their kids to develop assorted interests outside of school hours, ensuring they have enough varied routes to choose from when they grow up. Their lower household income holds their own ambitions back, and prevents them from saving a nest egg for their kids.

Although there are three groups, I’m sure there is a lot of crossover and this is evident when looking at what mums really want for their children. The five key thing that mums in the UK want for their children are:

For them to be happy (85%)

For them to be confident in themselves (75%)

To be well prepared for ‘the real world’ (53%)

To be good with money (50%)

To lead a healthy lifestyle (48%)

Although this may have been heavily influenced by Mum Worriers and No-expense-Spared Mums, making sure kids are involved in a multitude of extracurricular and recreational activities is key!

Mums will frequently encourage their children to play team sports, take up creative activities and read. These could be paths that brands can use to add value to a brand. If brands are seen to be supporting the same things that mums want their children to be involved in, they’re likely to buy into the brand. This is demonstrated by the fact that 50% of mums engage with brands on social because the brand resonates with them as parents.  

When it comes to engaging mums in today’s digital age, Facebook should be taken very seriously. 76% of mums engage with Facebook at least once a week! The next digital platform that mums regularly visit is well below 76%, with YouTube being visited by only 28% of mums weekly. Twitter is even lower with only 21% of mums visiting weekly.

Taking the all of above into consideration, it would appear that a targeted camping using Facebook, which offered mums the chance to give their kids a healthy product, in conjunction with a promotion that offers relevant and worthwhile extracurricular activities, would be ideal. 

Brands, mums and future generations!

You’ll often hear parents saying “kids never listen”, and with the total cost of raising a child at more than £222,000 I can see why that might be frustrating, however, kids may not be listening but they are watching!

According to research conducted by Shopitize, 75% of all consumers buy the same brands as their mothers. So with a significant 61% switch from branded to cheaper, own-label goods, it makes sense that supermarket chains are honing in on kids from a very young age. For example, Tesco launched its Tesco Loves Baby club and in 2013 Morrison’s Kiddicare also rolled out its first big marketing push by sponsoring ITV2 show Up All Night - all in aid of fostering favouritism in parents.

There is hope for brands yet but they need to be savvy about the way they attract mums, especially considering that the average age of a mum is 29, so new mums tend to be digital savvy, frequently using price comparison sites and seek out product reviews.

However, dropping price to compete with own label, something that we often do in the UK, isn’t always the right way to do things. Brian Walmsley, chief marketing officer at Bounty’s parent company, the Treehouse Group argues that retailers need to tread carefully when it comes to offering products on promotion, as opposed to maintaining price. Walmsley recently said “what mums are saying clearly is that they are interested in brands helping them in other ways”. What mums actually want is more useful information and tips, loyalty schemes and evidence that brands care about the whole family.

So it seems that if brands want future generations to purchase their products, own label or not, they’re going to need to think of ways to attract mums by adding value to the brand, after all value is a significant determinant of customer satisfaction. Mums want to feel that the brand cares about them not necessarily about their purse strings. Then, hopefully, 75% of consumers who buy the same products as their mums will grow!

A Jaguar you can drink and a football team that you can’t beat!

I know my last post was also about football so I must apologise to those who really don't care about football or football promotions, but as you’ve probably gathered from the title of this post, it focuses on football. With this post however, I look at a drinks brand trying to make a name for itself in the UK!

Jaguar or JED (Jaguar Energy Dink) is a non-alcoholic energy drink produced in Austria, owned by Barcode GT LLC, distributed throughout Europe and is (already in the UK) currently trying to stamp some authority on the UK drinks market.

Jaguar, the fairly unknown brand have now announced a new partnership agreement to become the official partner of a Barclay's Premier League football club. Not a small club like Norwich, Crystal Palace or Hull, but Manchester City! Last year’s champions and quite possibly this years as well. JED will be the first ‘Official UK and Ireland Energy Drink Partner’ of Manchester City Football Club.

Jaguar say that they "aim to bring the element of luxury, sophistication and finesse of Jaguar Energy Drink to the UK market. We are confident that once you experience the premium taste of this elite brand, you too will follow our passion of ‘Once Jaguar, Always Jaguar’"

As time goes by, it will be interesting to see if the drink becomes popular here in the UK. The partnership began on 3^rd of February and I still haven’t see it on shelves.

Glacéau vitaminwater's World Cup 'Shoot to Win'

As we are all well aware the 2014 World Cup is fast approaching, tickets to Rio are being booked, bets are being placed and brands around the globe are surfing on the ‘World Cup Wave’.

Glacéau vitaminwater, from Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd (CCE), are well aware of the buzz created by the world cup. For example, during the World Cup period in 2010 retail sales rose by 2.2%. This month Glacéau vitaminwater are capitalising on the buzz in Britain by launching a World Cup on-pack promotion. The promotion, ‘Shoot to Win’, challenges consumers to capture an ‘everyday colourful moment’ for a chance to win a camera and a trip for two to watch a 2014 FIFA World Cup quarter-final match. Not a bad prize unless you're an England supporter, hate loosing and disagree with pundits who know that we're likely to be knocked out by the hosts, just like we were in the 2002 World Cup. Although it's not all bad I guess, you've still got a camera.

Being supported in-store and via social media platforms the competition will reach, and appeal to, football fanatics, as well as consumers who enjoy taking photographs. According to Caroline Cater, CCE’s Operational Marketing Director, Glacéau vitaminwater is running this promotion to encourage “trial of the brand”, drive “repeat purchase” and ultimately help to drive CCE’s sales in the upcoming months.

I imagine that Glacéau vitaminwater are looking to capitalise on this sporting event in the same way they capitalised on the Olympics, where they had a huge success growing their business by 34%! As we get closer to the Olympics I’m sure a lot of brands will be doing the same thing ;);).

Robinsons competitor Jucee have a new 'No Added Sugar' offering

On 3^rd March 2014, Princess, the holding company for brands such as Flora, Branston and more poignant for us, Jucee, launched another Jucee flavour, Cherries & Berries. Cherries & Berries is the 10^th variant in the convenience sector range, which recently moved to a 1.5 litre price-marked pack format, meeting retailer and consumer needs. This is the first time that the Cherries & Berries flavour has been available in squash format for the convenience and independent grocery sector.

Looking to appeal to kids Jucee has introduced three child-friendly characters onto their pack design ‘Ozzie Orange’, ‘Archie Apple’, 'Suzy Strawberry' and ‘Charlie Cherry’. These characters are an attempt to communicate the brand values of great taste, value, and fun. They're also featured heavily in Jucee’s on-going sponsorship with Nickelodeon, which, in 2013, reached 54% of all children in the UK.

In accordance with Netmums advice for parents, the new packaging design sees the label ‘No Added Sugar’ front and centre. After researching it appears as if the issues surrounding sugar in kid’s drinks are hitting drinks brands hard. The table below shows us which Jucee products are stocked in which supermarkets. Providing a clearly visible example of what I’ve spoken about in some of my previous posts ‘A spoonful of sugar could make the sales go down’ and ‘Netmums on sugar’, sugar isn’t welcome anymore, demonstrated clearly by the lack of Jucee’s ‘Standard Squash’ (i.e. with added sugar) in any of the major supermarkets. Coinciding with this, their ‘No Added Sugar’ offerings are stoked in ASDA, TESCO and Morrisons.

At only £1.29 for a 1.5L bottle, cheaper than some competing products, could Jucee be a real threat to other brands in the squash territory? From what I’ve seen, no, no it won’t. Robinsons Apple & Blackcurrant Drink with No Added Sugar (1L) costs 7.4p per 100ml whereas Jucee’s Cherries & Berries (1.5L) comes in at 8.6p per 100ml. So there!

Incredibly creepy or incredible and creepy?

Everyone who’s seen the Minority Report remembers the scene where Tom Cruise walks into the shopping centre and the adverts become personalised and speak directly to him. If you don’t remember, or you haven’t seen the film, take a look at the video below.

As you may already know, in 2013 Tesco signed with Lord Sugar’s company Amscreen to install TV screens in 450 of its petrol stations. Each screen has a camera in it, which scans the face of every consumer, automatically deciding their age and gender. Consumers are then shown targeted adverts based on those details. As you can imagine, once all of the flaws have been ironed out, this is going to be incredibly beneficial for marketers.

This year, Emotient, the leading authority on facial expression recognition and analysis, have taken the above a step further. Rather than focusing on relaying a message across to the consumer like Amscreen, they’re actually helping us gain more accurate and real-time data about consumers’ interactions with products, offers and the store itself. The technology works by tracking the seven primary facial emotions (joy, surprise, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, and contempt) and then collating all of this information so that we can understand consumers’ reactions at POS. Click here to watch a video that will provide a more comprehensive explanation. 

As this technology is utilised in multiple locations and by all brands, shops and agencies will have a database of accurate consumer information that we've never been able to collect before. Not only will this information allow us to target consumers as seen in the clip from Minority Report, but we will also know how they're feeling, allowing us to tailor adverts to suit every age, gender and even mood. Incredible stuff don’t you think?

Netmums on sugar

As touched on in my previous post ‘A spoonful of sugar could make the sales go down’, sugar is being highlighted by the government as a major concern when it comes to children. The NHS states that most adults and children in the UK consume too much sugar. The government are calling sugar the new tobacco and mums are taking it a step further, with Netmums referring to Glucose Fructose Syrup as "Devil's candy".

So with the social media, the government and the NHS giving sugars a bad name, artificial sweeteners must be the way forward right? Wrong! Health fears about Aspartame (E951) have been around for some time. Some research suggests that aspartame causes cancer in lab rats, but this has been refuted, believe it or not, by the manufacturers of Aspartame. Either way this doesn’t hide the fact that sugar is just as dangerous for humans as it is for rats.

So what are mums happy for their children to drink? The advice from Netmums when thinking about kids drinks (‘Lunchbox Ideas’) is as follows:

-Water
-Milk (whole, semi-skimmed, goats or soya)
-Milkshake
-Pure fruit juice or smoothie – preferably diluted.
-Occasional well diluted high-juice squash (a note about sugar free options)

Lucky for us, Netmums have condoned squash to a certain extent. We should, however, still be thinking about what will happen if regulatory bodies continue to chip away at mums, stating that sugar will chip away kids teeth.

The future is nigh

We all knew the time would come when gadgets we saw on sci-fi films and TV shows like Star Trek would become a reality. Not only have Samsung produced something that’s proved us right with their Gear 2 Smartwatches, but, this year PayPal have jumped at the opportunity to change the way we pay using the Gear 2 Smartwatch technology.  

Changing the way we pay has come up in one of my previous posts ‘Paying for things by tweeting or... with your face?’ but if Smartwatches do catch on, PayPal may have hit the nail on the head and revolutionised shopping. Ultimately, Paypal are working on a concept for the new Samsung smartwatch, which will allow customers to pay for products in store using touchpay technology. Check out the video below to understand a bit more about it.

Retail: How to appeal to mums

As we know mums are the most important consumers that retailers can reach. They usually manage the shopping budget for a household and take care of the needs of the entire family. Furthermore mums are savvy!  Savvy shopping was borne directly out of the unstable economy; now special deals and sales have become a reason for visiting a store, or a deal-breaker for mums who are averse to buying anything full-price.

Additionally, with mums moving to shopping online retailers need to know how to entice, excite and relax mums. “Anxious”, “dread” and “angst” are all words that mums have associated with shopping according to the article I found on Retail Week. The article lists 12 ways for retailers to appeal to mums:

·        Help Reduce Stress

·        Keep children entertained

·        Alleviate guilt

·        Improve facilities

·        Don’t alienate them

·        Find new ways of generating loyalty

·        Be aware of body image

·        Remember these are savvy shoppers

·        Cater for teens

·        Remember value for money is important to mums

·        Technology is important, but it’s not everything

I don’t want to regurgitate the article and I will probably use it for future posts but if you fancy having a read you can access the article by clicking here. Very interesting and insightful! 

The traditional family remains dominant but things are changing!

Although the traditional family structure is still dominant in the UK, with 70% (5.4 million) of families falling into the ‘Traditional Family’ category, lots of things are changing. Families are becoming more diverse, meaning that the traditional model of marketing to the nuclear family may need to be revisited. For example, single parents are the second largest family typology in Britain, with women accounting for 64% of all Single Parent Families (SPF’s). Furthermore, with civil partnerships being introduced in the UK in December 2005, the number of civil partner couple families has increased from 13,000 in 2006 to 59,000 in 2011.

The changing family structure, the increase of same sex couples and the need to rethink how we approach marketing comms is evident throughout the marketing world. For example, McDonald’s France released a TV spot that was targeting gay men with the core message being “Come as You Are”. Brands in the USA have also embraced same sex families. The nearly-century old brand, Honey Maid, gave its latest marketing push a healthy dose of diversity with its Dad & Papa ad. Although the advert below was banned after receiving only 200 complaints, in 2008 Heinz showed the UK’s ignorant a taste of reality, depicting a same sex couple kissing. They knew then that the ‘traditional’ family is no longer as black and white as it used to be and that marketing comms will need to take note of this!

But not only is the family structure changing, affecting the way that brands need to market their ‘family products’, families are also changing their spending habits and  media consumption. In 2013 research showed that regardless of the family typology, parents prioritise children’s needs before their own. 13% of parents are spending more on treats for their children than they had previously. Research also shows that 11% of parents are more likely to spend money on food/drink at home for a “special” occasion and 10% of parents also said that they’re now more likely to spend money on family days out. This is just a very brief look at how things are changing. Ultimately this post highlights that changes are happening and that there’s a lot of scope for the communications industries to capitalise on said changes.

Innocently Defend, Energise and Detox!

Innocent, owned by The Coca-Cola Company, have been making some of the best smoothies in the world (in my non-prejudicial and personal opinion) since 1999. We’re all aware of their product extensions and fantastic campaigns. Consumers agree and feel as if they have a strong connection with the brand evident after Innocent jumped 5 places on the top 100 Social Brands list, from 6^th in 2013 to 1^st in 2014.

Now innocent are going a step further launching a new range of super smoothies, a range of functional health drinks that are also the healthiest drinks they've ever made. Each of the drinks in the range has a unique and specific health claim meaning the brand can offer people a smoothie with added health benefits.

The super smoothies come in three different recipes:

· Defence: With mango, pumpkin, Echinacea, flax seeds and vitamins C, D3 & zinc, the defence smoothie keeps white blood cells healthy, so they’re able to keep your immune system functioning properly, helping keep germs and bugs at bay.

· Energise: Strawberries, cherries and guarana have been combined with flax seeds and vitamins C, B1, B2 & B6 to make an energising smoothie.

 

· Antioxidant: The antioxidant super smoothie is a blend of kiwi, lime and wheatgrass with flax seeds and three powerful antioxidants: vitamins C, E and selenium. These help keep your cells fresh, healthy, and working as they should, when they need it most.

A spoonful of sugar could make the sales go down

This year, the soft drinks industry, and more specifically, fruit juice companies, could soon have a bittersweet taste in their mouths. Government advisers are now referring to Fruit Juice as the “new tobacco”, with juices being said to contain as much sugar as Coca-Cola.

With fruit juice no longer being considered the ‘healthy’ option, numerous soft drinks companies are looking to capitalise on this, seeping into the gaps that will soon permeate the sugary beverage industry.

Coco-Cola has kicked off what it is promising to be a massive year for their sugar free offering, Coke Zero. Caroline Carter, Coco-Cola’s Operational Marketing Director, commented on the launch of their new “Just Add Zero” campaign, stating that they hope to “establish Coke Zero as an icon to a new generation”. Carter goes on to explain that the campaign reflects their “on-going commitment to highlight the choices available for consumers who don’t want to compromise on taste for zero sugar and zero calories”.

In a considerate and beneficial move for the mother of all soft drinks brands, Britvic, JD Weatherspoon will now be giving away Britvic’s 7 Up Free on draught. This will hopefully see a rise in their profits for 2014. As the issue of sugar in drinks becomes more ferocious, this could be a great opportunity for Britvic to consider a sugar free Fruit Shoot or other 0% sugar offerings.

Although they already have the established distribution and manufacturing lines, it's not just the beverage giants that have an opportunity to innovate in this climate. If a smaller brand can  identify how consumers really feel, as opposed to how they think they should feel because of societal pressures, they will have a fighting chance in an otherwise saturated marketplace. 

Coconut crazy!

I went out on Tuesday (11^th March 2014) to see if there’s anything interesting, innovative or exciting happening in the drinks isles of various connivance stores and off-licenses in London. In all honesty there wasn't a lot. However, something that did stand out to me was the shear amount of decals for VitaCoCo. Below are just a few of the different Vita CoCo promotional offers and POS elements.

Just as I did, you may find yourself asking “what is Vita CoCo..?" Vita CoCo is an all-natural, fat-free, cholesterol-free, "nutrient-packed", coconut water.

Since the summer of 2004 Vita CoCo has not only carved a new market in the non-carbonated drinks business, they've become one of the fastest growing lifestyle drinks brands in North America and Europe. Now in 2014 Vita CoCo looks to tread on the toes of companies among the children’s drink category with the launch of their latest offering, Vita Coco Kids (imaginative, I know).

In line with a previous post “A spoonful of sugar could make the sales go down”, Vita Coco are introducing this product to meet the consumer demand for healthy drinks, as parents look for a low sugar alternatives to other UK leading children's beverages. Vita CoCo Kids's national launch is on Monday (17^th March 2014) with Waitrose being the first to feature the product on their shelves.

The food and beverage industry will need to keep a close eye on this space as Vita CoCo isn't the only company going Coco-nuts (bah-doom-boom-tssshhh). Levi Roots Soft Drinks is set to further their offerings in the beverage category with the launch of Levi Roots Coconut Water ‘n’ Lime soft drink, the first still drink in the Levi Roots portfolio. 

With recent research showing that coconut water sales have doubled in the past two years due to its association with healthy living, the category is now worth £5m. With health in mind, sugar being perceived as the devil and the growing consumer demand for Coconut drinks, could this be the next big thing or is it just another health fad?