Britvic and Pepsi Lipton International push Ice Tea range

The campaign will target one million consumers in the UK through a nationwide sampling drive, supported by digital, social media, PR and point-of-sale activity. It launches next month and runs for nine weeks.

The campaign will feature the same strapline previously used in activity for Lipton Ice Tea in the UK, "Don't knock it until you've tried it".

The sampling campaign features a "knokkers" game to drive brand engagement. The game encourages consumers to act as brand ambassadors for Ice Tea for the chance to win £250 worth of Red Letter Day vouchers that are given away each day.

PLI is a joint venture between PepsiCo and Unilever. The companies have an exclusive bottling agreement with Britvic in the UK.

They hope social media will further drive brand engagement through a dedicated Facebook page, www.facebook.com/LiptonIceTea.

The brand is relying on sampling activity to increase Lipton's performance in the cold hot drinks category, which grew by 92.7% to £14.9m in value in the year to December 2010, according to Nielsen.

Jon Evans, head of seed brands, Britvic, said: "We are really excited to be launching the biggest ever version of 'Don’t knock it' this summer.

"We know from our research that most consumers don't think they will like it before they've tried it, but once sampled, around 80% go on to buy, which is equal to the best brands on the market."

Britvic and PLI intend to reach one million consumers through the sampling drive, a figure the companies hope to triple through consumers acting as brand ambassadors and encouraging friends and family to sample the product.

Evans told Marketing that he hopes to increase the sampling campaign to a target of two million people next year, with a reach of six million through consumer engagement.

In January, PLI appointed Bruno Gruwez as its new managing director and Unilever's Anuradha Chugh as marketing director of its Western Europe division.

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk