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Cola networking
Virtual retail outlets are part of our daily lives, says Claire Phoenix. Online sales and advertising are increasing, and word of mouth is becoming more important than ever before.
“Yet, it’s communities that build brands,” said Coca-Cola UK marketing director, Cathryn Sleight, in a recent presentation at the UK Soft Drinks Conference.
“Social networking is seeing massive growth, with strong influence of ‘cyberfriends’ on purchasing choice,” she added. “There will be 22 million people networking in this way by 2012. History shows that those who do best use a downturn to plan and invest for the future. We plan to deepen our dialogue with consumers through the connection platform Let’s Get Together.
Friendly persuasion
41% of social networkers are more likely to buy a product if a friend on their network recommends it.
“We’re all more stretched for time. ‘Experience-rich’ and ‘time-meaningful’ is how we want to spend our leisure. So friendships and personal contact are important, but online influence is undoubtedly growing.
“We’re not being panicked into slashing prices, and will work hard to retain staff. Right now, we’re playing to our key strengths of optimism, heritage and authenticity with the Open Happiness campaign, and working through new channels such as Bebo, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
“Mycokezone – tailored individually to each country and in many languages – has been a phenomenal success, with 650,000 members and around 3,000 hits each day. We’re using this strategic tool to register consumers’ details by giving points away on bottles and cans, which can convert into offers.
“We know that this year, more people are ‘holidaying at home’ by staying in the UK and taking day trips, so in recognition of this, we’re offering £5 off a day at a theme park via our points loyalty scheme. In this way, we’re keeping in touch with our key customers and ensuring repeat footfall.
“We’re committed to sustainability and this is all part of the retail experience. The investments we make now will pay out in the long-term, and through our partnership with the Carbon Trust we will carbon footprint all our soft drinks. This will help our consumers make informed choices to reduce the effect packaging has on the environment. We’ve already made improvements to 70% of our packaging and hope to cut our carbon footprint by one third.”
Through harnessing new media, fine-tuning it to meet consumer needs, making environmental improvements easy to incorporate into daily life, beverage companies can benefit the consumer and the planet while still watching the bottom line.
Claire Phoenix is editor of Beverage Innovation magazine.
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Beverage Innovation
Beverage Innovation is a monthly periodical examining the new product launches, ingredients, manufacturing and consumption trends in every sector of the non-alcoholic drinks industry.
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