Coca-Cola unveils first UK umbrella campaign

by Nicola Clark, Marketing 26-Jul-05, 08:30

LONDON - Coca-Cola is embarking on an unprecedented campaign to promote its full portfolio of drinks brands to a health-conscious public, whose appetite for carbonated drinks is receding.

The campaign, created by Vallance Carruthers Coleman Priest, uses Coke's iconic bottle shape as an outline, but gives equal prominence to a wide range of the company's fruit juice and water brands.

The multimillion-pound "World of refreshment" campaign will run across consumer lifestyle titles, on the illuminated sign in London's Piccadilly Circus, and online at www.refreshinglife.co.uk. TV activity is not planned, although Coca-Cola is not ruling it out.

One supermarket buyer warned that it could be "dangerous" to associate all 19 brands with Coke because of health concerns.

A senior marketer at a rival drinks firm claimed a multi-product approach would help Coke avoid censure over health concerns about sports sponsorship. An industry analyst added that the ads would help Coca-Cola trade off its "brand icon status".

In the past three months sales of Coke-owned carbonates have grown in a sector that is in overall decline.

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