Christmas campaign for Coke

Tuesday, 14 October 2008

This autumn, Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd (CCE) is tapping into the seasonal spirit with a new campaign for Christmas 2008. CCE's plans include a £2.5m multi-media marketing campaign, an exciting on-pack promotion on all 500ml and 2L bottles of ‘Coca-Cola' and ‘diet Coke', as well as a seasonal campaign for the ‘Schweppes' range.

The iconic ‘Holidays are Coming' and ‘Greatest Gift' adverts will also return to consumers' screens as part of one of the largest Christmas media spend ever.

Christmas is an important season for brands as shoppers look to invest in quality when entertaining their family and friends. The Christmas soft drinks category is currently worth £236m and is the fourth biggest in ambient grocery, consistently showing significant growth.

Cola remains the biggest sector in the soft drinks category and is even more important at Christmas, while lemonade, pure juices, mixers and adult special also grow their share of the category.

The Christmas on-pack promotion is to run from the w/c 3rd November until the end of December and will offer consumers' the chance to win prizes and rewards via the ‘Coke Zone' website.

Prizes will include: high-tech gadgets, shoes for the Christmas party season, exclusive VIP tickets and money off vouchers for leading retailers. An estimated 95% of target consumers are expected to see or hear a piece of Coke Christmas communication, an average of 11 times during the campaign.

£2m is also being invested on national TV and 96 sheet outdoor campaigns for the ‘Schweppes' brand, running for four weeks throughout December. ‘Schweppes' was the only mixer brand to demonstrate growth in the four weeks of Christmas 2007 and is now one of the most popular adult soft drink brands in the UK.

During the Christmas period, 85% of new mixer buyers are selecting ‘Schweppes' delivering £1.7m in retail sales.

Kenny Chisholm, Trade Communications Manager at CCE, comments: "The sales opportunities for soft drinks in the Christmas period are significant especially as consumers ‘trade-up' to well-known brands such as ‘Coca-Cola' and ‘Schweppes'. Retailers should bear this in mind when making ranging decisions.

"That is why we continue to invest heavily into developing campaigns that appeal to core target shoppers for the ‘Coca-Cola' and ‘Schweppes' ranges. We know that over 1.1m households only buy Schweppes mixers at Christmas, and bring in 85% of new buyers in the same period. As the leading supplier of soft drinks, we believe it is our responsibility to drive category growth at this time of year, and ultimately drive sales for our customers."

For stockist information please call 08457 227222.

Source: Coca-Cola Enterprises