Coca-Cola Enterprises brings holiday cheer to Soft Drinks

Thursday, November 12, 2009

This autumn, Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd (CCE) is getting ready for the biggest Christmas ever with new seasonal campaigns for three of is most trusted brands - 'Coke', 'Schweppes', and the 'Appletiser' range.

CCE's activity will launch from early November to help retailers incentivise their customers to make the most of the festive season. Plan's include an exciting on-pack 'Greatest Gift' promotion on all 500ml and 2L bottles of 'Coca-Cola', 'diet Coke' and 'Coke Zero', as well as 300ml can multipacks. The iconic 'Holidays are Coming' ads will also return to consumers' screens to build anticipation leading up to the Christmas season, with Santa appearing on screens in December to drive the celebration message. In addition, a new humorous festive themed ad campaign for 'Schweppes' will launch and the 'Appletiser' range will run a celebratory promotion for Grocery consumers.

CCE will support activity with strong in store activation campaigns and eye-catching festive POS for retailers to maximise sales. Christmas is a hugely important season for retailers and soft drinks offer them a big opportunity as shoppers look to invest in quality and brands that they trust when entertaining their family and friends, with the key Christmas sectors being cola, lemonade, mixers and adult special[1] .

The Christmas occasion also significantly drives trial in the adult special sector of the category, and CCE research shows that many 'Appletiser' triallists return the following year and buy back into the brand. Average base sales increased by 300% with further promotional uplift over the eight weeks leading up to Christmas 2008[2] . As a result the 'Appletiser' range delivered an additional £924K[3] to the category in 2008, growing volume by 53% and value by 54% versus Christmas 2007[4] .

My Coke

Retailers will be able to stock up from early November with special 'Coke' Christmas packs featuring Santa Claus and festive 'diet Coke' and 'Coke Zero' packs to co-incide with the launch of the 'Greatest Gift' on-pack promotion. Available from 2nd November consumers will have the chance to win a variety of prizes through daily prize draws and rewards via the 'Coke Zone' website. Prizes will include: high-tech gadgets, music downloads and exclusive 'Coca-Cola' merchandise[5] . The on-pack promotion will also be supported with strong in-store POS, including dumpbins and freestanding display units all featuring the Christmas branding.

Schweppes

CCE is also investing in an iconic national TV campaign for the 'Schweppes' brand, running throughout November and December, with the theme 'Christmas Entertainment from Schweppes'. With top comedy actors providing voiceovers, including Martin Freeman, Matthew Holness and Doon Machikan, 'Schweppes' will be sponsoring all the main UKTV channels throughout November and December. An advertising campaign will also run across key terrestrial and satellite channels throughout December. The 1L 'Schweppes' Mixer bottles will feature a seasonal mixer cap and will be supported by high in-store visibility and POS.

Appletiser

CCE is supporting the 'Appletiser' range, which also includes 'Peartiser' and 'Frutiser', with online, outdoor and press ATL activity, as well as sampling and direct mail, targeting its core female audience and the continuation of the 'Enjoy Irresponsibly' communication which began in April this year. Additionally, 'Appletiser' will be running a promotion in Grocery for consumers with the strap line, 'Break out the Bubbly this Christmas and Win Christmas on us'. The promotion will launch from 1st November and will run to the end of December, offering consumers the opportunity to win one of 25 £250 cash prizes when two 750ml flavours of 'Appletiser', 'Peartiser' or 'Fruitiser' are purchased together[6] .

Participating stores will receive pre-merchandised display units with the 'Break out the Bubbly this Christmas' creative, fully stocked with the 'Appletiser' and 'Fruitiser' range. Six sheet advertising will also feature in close proximity to the stores to drive consumer awareness from arrival right through to purchase.

Selena Taylor, Trade Communications Manager at CCE, comments: "Christmas is the biggest season for retailers and Coca-Cola Enterprises offers a great opportunity for them to 'open happiness' and increase sales of trusted brands like 'Coca-Cola', 'Schweppes' and 'Appletiser' as consumers trade up over the festive period.

"We want to help our customers to celebrate by driving their sales and ultimately encourage growth of the category, especially at this significant time of year. This is why we invest heavily on developing strong, iconic Christmas campaigns to appeal to consumers.

"The Coke Zone 'Greatest Gift' on-pack promotion rewards loyal consumers with great prizes and we are convinced this year's promotion will be even more successful than before. Retailers can make the most of this promotion by making good ranging decisions and using the impactful POS on offer, ensuring maximum visibility in-store."

-End-

For more information please contact
Carly or Frankie at Mercieca on
020 7485 0100 / carly@mericeca.co.uk

Notes to editors

• *In Christmas 2008 total Cola grew by £10.6m with CCE delivering £104m into the soft drinks category, growing by £4m compared to Christmas 2007[7] . In addition 'Schweppes' Lemonade saw a 3.4% value increase and 'Schweppes' Mixers +1.2% based on Christmas 2007[8]
• 'Coca-Cola', 'Coke', 'diet Coke', 'diet Coca-Cola', 'Coca-Cola Zero' and 'Coke Zero' are all registered trademarks of The Coca-Cola Company
• 'Schweppes' is a registered trademark of Atlantic Industries

[1] Nielsen Mults & Coops w/e 27.12.08
[2] CCE Margin Minder 2008 Sales
[3] Nielsen Total Mult & Coops, 8w/e 27.12.08 v YAGO
[4] Nielsen Total Mult & Coops, 8w/e 27.12.08 v YAGO
[5] To enter the daily prize draws or to redeem reward points, consumers simply input the 12-digit code found on the label of 2L and 500ml bottles of 'Coke', 'diet Coke' and 'Coke Zero' or on the card inserts of 330ml can multipacks, into www.cokezone.co.uk or via SMS.
[6] To enter, consumers simply complete the bottle neck swing tag or a tag downloaded from www.appletiser.co.uk, attaching their till receipt and send it to Coca-Cola Enterprises
[7] Nielsen Total Mults & Coops, w/e 27.12.08 v YAGO
[8] 8 wks Data to 28th Dec '08 vs. Yr Ago, Total Coverage