Today Coca-Cola Great Britain Marketing Director Charlotte Oades set out the Powerade plans that are believed will help the brand lead the British Sports Drink sector.
Plans include initially distributing among sports outlets, a three phased and provocative Powerade advertising campaign, a grassroots educational and sampling campaign, extensive PR among specialist sports press and the introduction of ‘Team Powerade’, five top British sports people to raise awareness of Powerade benefits.
Oades said, ‘Powerade has been formulated to prevent dehydration and delay the onset of fatigue during exercise. Our core audience of 16-20 year old males are passionate about sport and take part regularly. In life they want to be entertained and challenged yet still desire to put in a good performance. Sport is a serious part of how they live. Our opportunity is to show them that Powerade can give them that edge, at whatever level they play, doing so credibly and in a way that is relevant.’
Powerade is isotonic and has been developed by scientists with sports consumers needs in mind. It’s unique ‘Liquid8 System’ contains an optimum combination of carbohydrates, minerals and electrolytes which when consumed allow rapid re-hydration and energy replacement, vital to maintain its drinkers peak physical performance.
The Powerade sports credentials will be reinforced by its availability across sports and leisure centres from mid November 2001 and its benefits communicated to sports centre staff. Impactful POS and merchandising, including Powerade cooler units, have been developed for sales and sampling across high profile sports sites such as Lillywhites and Allsports.
The Powerade attitude is reflected by the above the line campaign which challenges its audience. Created by Wieden & Kennedy Amsterdam, the brand campaign kicked off on 22 October with an outdoor teaser campaign across 120 London sites including the Piccadilly sign, revealing its striking ‘P’ icon and seeding a question such as,’IS #021 LEGAL?’. This was extended to a teaser postcard initiative distributing postcards throughout sports and leisure outlets from 5th November.
Both campaigns lead to a six sheet campaign in sports and leisure outlets from 19 November. Simple copy describes a ‘Mantra’s’ which leads into an irreverent physical test. There will be three separate executions with a weekly build to maintain audience interest over a four week period.
In addition ‘sticker postcards’ available in sports outlets from 3 December will allow consumers to interact with the brand. A TV ad is also planned for early 2002.
Building Powerade through grassroots support is an essential part of the brand campaign. In 2002 extensive sampling will target consumers during sports activity such as Sunday League football.
A comprehensive PR campaign will focus on building exposure and an understanding of Powerade benefits among specialist sports media before extending to wider consumer audiences in 2002. A Powerade team has been selected to help raise awareness of the importance of re-hydrating and refuelling during sports activity.
It includes five British athletes from a broad spectrum of sports that reflect the Powerade endurance positioning. The first athlete to be introduced is British Decathlon star Dean Macey who will be representing Powerade at Lillywhites on 17th November. There are currently four other team members who will be revealed over the coming months.
For further information please contact:
Simon Woollard
Patrick Fraser
Cohn & Wolfe
Tel: 020 7331 5300
Fax: 020 7331 9085
e-mail: anthony_kayne@uk.cohnwolfe.com