The soft sell

Volvic is the number one branded bottled water brand, with a share of 19.4% in Ireland

Impulse purchasing is a major driver within soft drinks, meaning brands constantly need to copper-fasten their USPs within consumers' minds. Thankfully, the category leaders have more than stepped up to the mark with new flavour innovations, engaging on-pack promotions and tempting price-marked packs. Gillian Hamill reports

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Brand Central

AT A GLANCE: SOFT DRINKS

• The bottled water category is valued at €125 million across the Island of Ireland and is growing at 5.7% (Source: AC Nielsen Nov/Dec 2013 IOI)
• Volume sales of bottled water have reached 157 million litres, a growth of 5.8% over 2012 (Source: AC Nielsen Nov/Dec 2013 IOI)
• Volvic is the number one branded bottled water brand, with a share of 19.4%* in Ireland. 
• Ballygowan Natural Mineral Water, Ireland’s original water brand, celebrates its 30th birthday this year
• Deep RiverRock is number one in the branded water market in terms of value across the island of Ireland (Source: AC Nielsen Nov/Dec 2013 IOI)
• Deep RiverRock states the 500ml and 750ml sports packs are the largest selling packs and account for almost 60% of Deep RiverRock sales. The 750ml sports cap is the fastest selling impulse water SKU (Source: AC Nielsen Nov/Dec 2013 IOI)
• 58% of consumers buy more soft drinks when products are on promotion,** making price-marked packs (PMPs) an important tool to driving sales
• Research shows 98% of consumers would buy a soft drink in a price-marked pack from a convenience store, with 44% saying they would be more likely to buy a product in a price-marked pack***
• Retailers are also seeing the benefit of price-marked packs, with 65% saying that their sales of price-marked packs have risen and 76% thinking that PMPs improve a store’s price image***
• 75% of purchase decisions are made at the fixture, meaning prominently displayed PMPs will attract customers
• The soft drinks market in impulse is worth £1.8bn**** in the UK with 53% of all the growth being driven by PMPs*****
• Premium cordial is the fastest growing sector in the soft drinks category in the UK with annual sales up by 14% compared with a 4% growth rate in the category as a whole****** 
• This growth is coming from an increase in the number of shoppers purchasing premium cordials and also buying them more often to use as mixers******* 
• Fruit Shoot is the number one on-the-go (OTG) low sugar kids ready-to-drink (RTD) brand********

*(Source: Combined sales of Volvic plain and Volvic Touch of Fruit, Nielsen Scantrack ROI data to 23/02/2014)
**(Source: IGD Research 2012)
***(Source: HIM PMP Study 2011)
****(Source: Nielsen Scantrack, Value Sales, MAT to 01/02/14, Total UK Impulse)
*****(Source: Nielsen Scantrack, PMP Unit Growth, MAT to 01/02/12, Total UK Impulse)
******(Source: Nielsen Total Coverage Total Soft Drinks & Premium Glass Cordials Value MAT 01.03.14)
*******(Source: Kantar KPI 05.01.14)
********(Source: AC Nielsen Kids RTD Category 4w/e Dec 1 2013)

Coming into the summer months, now is the ideal time for retailers to reflect on their soft drinks offering, with research revealing that for every degree the climate increases above 15 degrees, impulse bottled water sales increase by 4.6%. In fact, due to increasing innovation, the bottled water category has reached 157 million litres, a growth of 5.8% over 2012 (Source: AC Nielsen Nov/Dec 2013 IOI). With penetration of almost 90%, carbonated soft drinks enjoy almost universal appeal and product innovation is rife, making this a dynamic and highly competitive marketplace. In light of consumers’ increasing efforts to improve their health, analyst Mintel reports diet/low-calorie options and carbonates with high fruit content represent strong growth opportunities.

Sales that will erupt!

Volvic, the number one bottled water brand, has added even more flavour – and some extra sparkle – to the soft drinks market with a new selection of flavours and formats across its Volvic, Volvic Touch of Fruit and Volvic Juiced ranges.

Volvic Touch of Fruit kicked off the 2014 Brazilian celebrations with a Brazil-inspired Special Edition Coco-Pineapple flavour, available in 50cl and 1.5L.

Volvic Touch of Fruit multipacks now come in a six x 50cl pack, with the addition of the Volvic Touch of Summer Fruits six x 50cl multipack to extend the flavour range.

Volvic Juiced has expanded its range of flavours with new Special Edition Perfectly Peachy flavour in 50cl and 1.5L.

All the new formats and flavours were rolled out throughout February and March.

Kerry O’Sullivan, country manager for Danone Waters Ireland said: "We are delighted to be able to share these fantastic new flavours with consumers. Volvic fans will now be able to choose from six tasty Touch of Fruit flavours including the Brazil-inspired Special Edition, and four Volvic Juiced flavours. With a plain sparkling option also now available, there has never been so much choice within the Volvic brand."

The launches will be supported with a six sheet outdoor campaign and a range of barkers, wobblers and freestanding display units.

As well as a Brazil-inspired Special Edition Coco-Pineapple flavour, other Touch of Fruit flavours available include Strawberry, Lemon & Lime, Summer Fruits, Tropical Fruits, and Orange and Peach

Volvic is the currently the number one branded bottled water brand, with a share of 19.4%* in Ireland. It plays a key role in the development of the bottled water category.

Volvic Natural Mineral Water is sourced in the French Auvergne region, where it is filtered through six layers of volcanic rock which gives it a unique volcanic mineral composition.

Volvic is sold in more than 60 countries and the full range includes Volvic Natural Mineral Water, Volvic Touch of Fruit and Volvic Juiced. Volvic Natural Mineral Water is also available now in a 1.5L Sparkling format.

Volvic Juiced is an addition to the Volvic motherbrand which combines Volvic Natural Mineral Water with fruit juice and is available in 50cl and 1.5L bottles in Berry Medley, Cloudy Lemon and Orchard Apple flavours. Volvic Juiced contains fruit juice from concentrate and also contains sugar. See pack for full ingredients.

Volvic Touch of Fruit is available in 50cl and 1.5L bottles in Strawberry, Lemon & Lime, Summer Fruits and Orange and Peach flavours. Volvic Touch of Fruit also comes in sugar-free Strawberry and Lemon & Lime flavours as well as the new Tropical Fruit flavour.

*(Source: Combined sales of Volvic plain and Volvic Touch of Fruit, Nielsen Scantrack ROI data to 23/02/2014) 

Amazing journey the secret to purity

Just launched is the new Evian kids pack available in a nine x 33cl multipack, supported by the Mr. Men cartoon theme. Each drop of Evian Natural Mineral Water falls as rain or snow high on the pristine peaks of the French Alps. It then travels through a vast mineral aquifer deep within the mountains before emerging at the spring in Evian-Les-Bains. This amazing journey is the secret to Evian’s purity and it takes over 15 years.

 Going for gold for Irish Cancer Society

Ballygowan Natural Mineral Water, Ireland’s original and popular water brand, celebrates its 30th birthday this year. A commitment to quality and an innovative approach to engaging consumers has kept the brand at the top of the market throughout the decades and this year the brand is going for gold.

Ballygowan will be showcasing a new look from April in a bid to raise money for the fight against cancer. For six months, all 500ml still, 750ml sports cap, 1L sport and 2L still bottles across the trade will feature a special gold label – with the aim of raising €100,000 for the Irish Cancer Society which will fund essential nursing services, supporting cancer patients and their families. Ballygowan will also be teaming up with Marie Curie Cancer Care to ensure that all funds raised in Northern Ireland go to support local nursing services.

The limited edition packs will be supported with a through the line campaign fronted by comedian and cancer survivor, Des Bishop.

Stand together against bullying

This year, Tipperary Kidz water is teaming up with the ISPCC Blue shield campaign to protect children from bullying. Tipperary Kidz is delighted to get involved and support this year’s blue shield campaign because its call to ‘stand together against bullying’ chimes with Tipperary’s core values ‘stronger together’.

The partnership will strive to create awareness through high profile campaigning including celebrity ambassadors and an anti-bullying week in March.
To support these efforts, the government recently launched a new action plan to protect children from bullying. The proposed actions build on the excellent work that is already underway in schools to prevent and tackle bullying.

With stock available in all major retailers, Tipperary Kidz will donate directly to the ISPCC for every pack sold throughout the year.

For more information on the partnership, visit www.tipperarywater.ie.

Ready to Rock

The bottled water category is valued at a healthy €125 million across the island of Ireland and is growing at 5.7% while volume sales have reached 157 million litres, a growth of 5.8% over 2012*.

Deep RiverRock is an indigenous market-leading bottled-water brand, bottled at source in Co. Antrim. Deep RiverRock is number one in the branded water market in terms of value across the island and continues to add value to the water market*.

DRR caters for all water occasions through an extensive brand portfolio, including single bottles, multipacks and plain, sparkling and flavoured water. The 500ml and 750ml sports packs are the largest selling packs and account for almost 60% of Deep RiverRock sales. The 750ml sports cap is the fastest selling impulse water SKU*.

Deep RiverRock created a new integrated marketing campaign in April 2013, ‘When you can’t think straight, hydrate.’ This is new campaign is supported by three television executions, outdoor, digital and through a series of successful sponsorships which shows the brand’s ongoing commitment to supporting communities at a local level.

*(Source AC Nielsen Nov/Dec 2013 IOI)

Discover MiWadi World

MiWadi World delivers games and adventures, stories and educational lessons suitable for varying age groups of children

MiWadi has launched a new brand activation campaign, ‘Discover MiWadi World‘, to drive consumer engagement.

This April, the Discover MiWadi World campaign will provide a platform for increased engagement with the brand through the MiWadi World in-store and digital platform.

Inspired by the brand’s personality, MiWadi World is a wonderful planet, a happy go-lucky place where the sun is always shining and fun is never far away! All over MiWadi World, there are games and adventures, stories and educational lessons suitable for varying age groups.

Niamh Lynch, brand manager, MiWadi, explained: "Through our in-store theatre we will invite consumers to visit the MiWadi Ireland Facebook page and explore MiWadi World. The site is designed to encourage parent and child participation by completing fun activities and having the opportunity to play the new MiWadi World app games as well as competitions with great family prizes to be won."

The new platform is being supported with an impactful national advertising campaign, including outdoor, digital and trade-press support, as well as fun in-store displays and promotional activity.

Boost profits with price-marked packs 

Retailers should ensure they stock up on price-marked packs which are fuelling impressive growth in the soft drinks category as consumers continue to look for ways to spend less without trading down.

"Price-marking is a winning strategy for retailers. It drives footfall, rate of sale, builds shopper loyalty and is a proven way to drive incremental category growth," says Gavan Morris, AG Barr country manager for Ireland.

"Shoppers have come to expect promotions as a key part of their hunt for value with 58% buying more when products are on promotion*, making price-marked packs an important tool to driving sales."

AG Barr’s popular Irn-Bru 500ml 99c PET and Rubicon 1 litre €1.59 cartons are already selling well in Ireland. In April, the company will be strengthening its price-marked range with the addition of a further seven packs including Rockstar 500ml €1.19 cans in Xdurance Blue, Supersours Apple and Punched Guava flavours and Barr 330ml 49c cans in Cola, Cream Soda, Bubblegum and Cherryade. These great-tasting products will now all be available in long-term price-marked packs throughout the year, offering must-stock sales opportunities.

Price-marked packs work for both consumers and retailers. Research has shown that 98% of consumers would buy a soft drink in a price marked pack from a convenience store, with 44% saying they would be more likely to buy a product in a price-marked packs. Retailers are also seeing the benefit of price-marked packs, with 65% saying that their sales of price-marked packs have risen and 76% thinking that PMP’s improve a store’s price image.** 75% of purchase decisions are made at the fixture, so PMPs displayed prominently will attract customers.

The soft drinks market in impulse is worth £1.8bn*** with 53% of all the growth being driven by price-marked packs****. 75% of purchase decisions are made at the fixture, so using PMPs prominently will attract customers.

"AG Barr brands are in double-digit growth in Ireland and as a result we are upweighting our resource with the addition of a new national account manager in order to continue our support for Irish retailers."

Morris concludes: "Our advice to retailers is clear: with shopper focus on value set to continue, supporting price-marked packs is key to growing sales and no other manufacturer delivers better value to customers and consumers than AG Barr."

*(Source: IGD Research 2012)
**(Source: HIM PMP Study 2011)
***(Source: Nielsen Scantrack, Value Sales, MAT to 01/02/14, Total UK Impulse)
****(Source: Nielsen Scantrack, PMP Unit Growth, MAT to 01/02/12, Total UK Impulse)

Tapping into consumer trends

The Bottlegreen range is distributed by SHS Sales & Marketing

With summer – a key sales period for soft drinks – rapidly approaching, Simon Speers, managing director of Bottlegreen Drinks, suggests retailers could benefit from sales from putting more emphasis on premium soft drinks brands such as Bottlegreen to ensure that their offering reflects changing consumer trends.

"There’s clear evidence that consumers are trading up to premium soft drinks," says Speers, pointing to industry statistics which show that premium cordial is the fastest growing sector in the soft drinks category with annual sales up by 14% compared with a 4% growth rate in the category as a whole*. While the figures are based on GB data, Speers believes they signal an opportunity for retailers in Ireland too as the growth is coming from an increase in the number of shoppers purchasing premium cordials and they are also buying them more often** to use as mixers as well as drinking them as a treat.

Versatility is one of the key attributes of Bottlegreen pressés and cordials. They make refreshing drinks in their own right; they are an ideal accompaniment for food – a variety of flavours provide a choice to suit most dishes; and the cordials can also be used to create cocktails at home. Bottlegreen cordial’s high concentration levels – they deliver a 1:10 serve compared with a 1:8 serve of double concentrate cordials – also offer consumers excellent value for money with each 500ml bottle making 5.5 litres when diluted.

Distributed by SHS Sales & Marketing, the Bottlegreen portfolio is free from all artificial colours, flavours and sweeteners, and wine production techniques are used to produce Bottlegreen sparkling pressés and create adult flavour profiles such as the brand’s flagship Elderflower variant; Pomegranate & Elderflower and Cox’s Apple Pressés; and Strawberry & Elderflower cordial – all big sellers in Ireland.

For sales enquiries, contact SHS Sales & Marketing on +353 (0) 1 401 6200 or email: info@shs-sales.ie.

*(Source: Nielsen Total Coverage Total Soft Drinks & Premium Glass Cordials Value MAT 01.03.14)
**(Source: Kantar KPI 05.01.14)

Shooting ahead with Angry Birds partnership

Fruit Shoot is the number one on-the-go (OTG) low sugar kids RTD brand* and April sees the launch of a new and exciting on pack promotion across both its single serve and multipack formats. The promotion is part of the brand’s ongoing ‘Get Your Skills On’ campaign which looks to motivate kids to try and learn new skills in a fun and interactive way.

Fruit Shoot, through a partnership with Rovio Entertainment Ltd, is offering kids the opportunity to play a new and exclusive online skills adventure park puzzler.

Each multi-pack and single serve PMP bottle will have a unique nine-digit promotional code, giving kids access to the exclusive online adventure featuring Fruit Shoot and Angry Birds. The puzzler, created exclusively for Fruit Shoot, will be live from 1 April until 30 August 2014 and the campaign will be supported above-the-line (ATL) with the brand’s popular skate park-themed TV advert, The Chase, which will be on TV from early April right through to the end of June. Disruptive in-store POS will create visibility and category engagement at the point of purchase.

The company’s 2014 campaign will continue to drive desirability for Fruit Shoot by positioning the brand at the heart of what’s cool and motivating for kids, while also giving parents a reason to buy Fruit Shoot. The Angry Birds packs will have strong standout on shelf and the brand is urging retailers to stock up to capitalise on the interest this activity will create and the increased demand for Fruit Shoot while this campaign is live.

*(Source: AC Nielsen Kids RTD Category 4w/e Dec 1st 2013)

Q&A with…
Sian Young, senior brand and activation manager Ballygowan

Have value sales in the bottled water category been significantly impacted by the increasing prevalence of own-brand bottled water alternatives?

Competition from own-brand products is positive as it means that branded suppliers really have to step up in ensuring that we deliver great value-for-money to our consumers and that’s about more than just low prices. At Ballygowan we constantly look for new ways to add value for consumers through great packaging and consumer activation and we believe that is the reason why Ballygowan is growing ahead of the water market. For example, our Ballygowan Gold initiative this summer will empower consumers to make a difference, helping them to support the fight against cancer simply by choosing a bottle of Ballygowan.

How have you innovated in order to make your range of waters more convenient for consumers?

Every detail of the Ballygowan bottle has been designed to maximise convenience and ease of use – from the easy-grip bottle shape and water-resistant finish on our labels to the gluggable, resealable sportscaps. We also have the widest range of pack formats which means there is the perfect bottle available for every handbag, lunchbox and briefcase.

How important is your Irish heritage for the Ballygowan brand?

Irishness is at the heart of the Ballygowan brand and it brings huge benefits to the consumer in terms of quality credentials, trustworthiness and a support for local jobs. As a founding member of Love Irish Food we feel great pride in the quality of Irish products and encourage consumers to support local brands wherever possible.

How heavily has Ballygowan invested in promoting its product range in 2014?

Our big initiative for 2014 is a new charitable partnership with the Irish Cancer Society. From April to September our labels will be turning Gold and we will be making a donation to the charity for every bottle sold, with all funds going to support much-needed nursing services. We’re aiming to raise EUR*100,000 for this fantastic cause. The campaign will be supported by a strong through-the-line campaign fronted by comedian and cancer-survivor Des Bishop, aimed at raising awareness for the great work that the Irish Cancer Society do and encouraging consumers to ‘B part of it’.

Britvic recently announced Ballygowan Natural Mineral Water would become its sole water brand in GB and Ireland. How important is this announcement for Ballygowan and will it lead to significant expansion for the brand?

The launch of Ballygowan into GB is a real milestone and a testament to how far the brand has come in the last 30 years since launching as Ireland’s first bottled water brand. These are exciting times at Britvic and we have received great support from our colleagues in GB who are extremely impressed by Ballygowan’s unique heritage and quality. The response to the launch from British consumers has been very positive and we are looking forward to tapping into the 1.2 billion litre bottled water market in GB to drive further growth.

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