The industry that features some of the biggest household names (Pepsi and Coca-Cola to mention just two) is suffering from a bit of an image problem at the moment.
People are increasingly looking for healthy alternatives to fizzy drinks and the negative publicity that can result from contributing to the huge ocean plastics issue doesn’t bear thinking about if your product relies on bottles.
The pressure to reduce plastics use and offer healthy drinks over sugar-filled soda is increasing by the day, and it’s having a fascinating impact on product and brand marketing.
The challenge(s)
”It's really about brand relevance and how people connect with the brands and interact with it,” explained Pepsi’s vice president of marketing, Todd Kaplan, in a recent interview with Business Insider.
Kaplan was being quizzed on the challenges Pepsi faces and how their latest summer marketing campaign is hoping to address them. And he certainly has a point; for most big players in the soft drinks industry, awareness and penetration aren’t really a worry. Being customer-led and tapping into the powerful influencer marketing machine is where their focus lies because if they take their eye off those particular balls, they really will have a problem on their hands.
However, Kaplan hints at a more troubling challenge during the interview when he notes the addition of real fruit juice in Pepsi. It’s that health kick issue again, isn’t it?
People want healthier drinks these days, and the sheer volume of start-ups that are offering genuinely healthy fruit-based drinks with equally magnetic brand appeal and product marketing is putting pressure on the big boys.
These smaller operators are doing a fabulous job at disrupting the market, which is why we’re starting to see so many health-focused drinks appear on supermarket shelves.
The plastics issue is also impossible to ignore and is a challenge that can completely change the way products are marketed.
So, what are the big brands doing about these challenges? Let’s look at two examples.
1. Coca-Cola’s signature mixers
Coke has long been a staple when it comes to mixers for alcoholic drinks, but the famous soft drinks maker is obviously keen to remain as relevant as possible for its audience.
To retain their relevance and provide customers with products that fly in the face of the brand’s tried-and-tested roots, Coca-Cola is now introducing signature mixers.
Featuring a variety of fancy-sounding flavours, the Hutchinson glass bottled-mixers look unlike anything Coca-Cola has produced before, and the language in their product marketing (“balancing refreshing notes of lemongrass with the earthy tones of dill seed and tagetes”) is far removed from what you’d normally read on the can of a Diet Coke.
It’s brave, innovative for the brand and product and likely to win plenty of admirers.
2. Pepsico’s plastic program
Demonstrating that your business is environmentally-aware is an important part of brand marketing these days, and Pepsico is doing so in a big way.
They’ve even created a website dedicated to their focus on reducing plastic waste. ‘We’re all in’ is the slogan, and the soft drinks giant provides genuinely engaging, thoughtful content on why plastics are used, how we can all help prevent plastic from ending up in the ocean and even an explanation of the ‘circular economy’.
Pepsico says it is committed to making 100% of Pepsi product packaging recyclable or biodegradable by 2025, and its safe to assume that this particular element of their brand marketing plays a pivotal role in board meetings.
Conclusion
Every industry has its challenges, but the soft drinks sector is a fascinating example of how brands can - and should - occasionally reinvent their product marketing or look beyond their heritage and values when marketing their brand.
After all, no matter how big or well established your business, it will quickly become irrelevant if it doesn’t meet modern challenges head-on.
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