New tactics for Tango as ‘healthy’ soft drinks prosper

16 May 2007 By db staff writer

“standfirst”>Britvic has announced plans to re-invigorate the Tango range by removing artificial flavours and colours. The change has come after the manufacturer suffered a severe drop of 43% in pre-tax profits for 2006, which has been blamed on the shrinking market for sugared soft drinks.

The new healthier Tango range will be launched in July and be heralded by a new pack design and bottle shape and supported by a £2m UK advertising campaign. The range will also be expanded: the existing line up of Orange, Apple and Cherry will be augmented with a new Citrus flavour and both the newly added Citrus Tango, as well as the ever popular Orange flavour, will be available with no added sugar from July. The change of contents is mirrored by a change of image with a new pack design and a more “contemporary” bottle shape.

Britvic says that the alterations have been prompted by a demand from fruit carbonate consumers for more natural ingredients – but that optimum taste has always been their first concern: “Taste and excitement are the primary drivers of purchase in the fruit carbonates category, with research showing that taste is associated more with fruit carbonates than with any other category,” claims Andrew Marsdon, marketing director of Britvic. “Our research showed that removing artificial colours and flavours does not sacrifice the taste of Tango and in fact the new formulation of Orange with natural colours and flavours performed better in taste tests.”

Although carbonated fruit drinks such as Tango are not in direct competition with still fruit drinks and juices which market themselves more directly on their ‘healthy’ image, it is clear that it is the increasing popularity of the latter and the growing health consciousness of the soft drinks consumer which has prompted the changes by Britvic. The company suffered a steep fall of 43% in pre-tax profits in 2006 (to £36.5m) as well as announcing a £136m loss in share value in March of last year. Despite Britvic being responsible for the UK production of low calorie, sugar free alternatives such as Pepsi Max, which has been available in the UK since 1993, the losses were put down to not anticipating the speed of consumers’ shift towards healthier drinks.

The shift towards more outwardly healthy brands within the soft drinks sector has, of course, been brewing for some time now. Between 1995 and 2005, juice, still drinks and bottled water all showed a noticeable rise in sales whereas carbonates were down in the same period by 9%. In 2006 still drinks claimed a 57% share of the market compared to the 43% for carbonates. The media focus on obesity throughout Europe and the US coupled with consumers who are increasingly well informed in matters of health and diet, has meant that people’s expectations of the soft drink industry have altered. With increasingly hectic lifestyles, people are seeking soft drinks that they can rely on to provide an immediate source of vitamins and minerals while on the go.

Hence companies such as Innocent have flourished, with their strong marketing focus on the inclusion of all natural ingredients in their smoothies. Indeed the brand broke into the top 10 in the soft drinks category of this year's drinks business Brands Report with sales of £107m. Started by three Cambridge graduates in 1998, Innocent drinks now has a £76 million turnover and is an internationally recognised brand with its associations of health and ethically sourced ingredients. Earlier this month the company launched This Water, a range of natural water-based juice drinks that are free from preservatives, colourings and flavourings.

So with such a ground shift in popularity towards more ‘natural’ soft drinks, those at Britvic will undoubtedly be keen for the reinvigorated Tango brand to echo the success of other carbonated drinks which have already successfully weathered the change in market desires. Coca-Cola Zero, with its tag line of “great coke taste, zero sugar”, was launched in July 2006 and was assisted by the company’s biggest brand launch in over 20 years. A campaign comprising of television, outdoor, online and press advertising, as well as a five million sampling campaign of 20-35 year old males (Coco-Cola Zero’s target audience) meant that within four weeks of its release, 1.1m households had tried Coca-Cola Zero.

Britvic will be hoping that the Tango advertising campaign will prove equally effective in assuring consumers of Tango’s healthier credentials because it appears clear that taste alone is no longer the defining factor in a soft drink’s popularity. It is how that taste is achieved that seems to matter most.

© db Christian Anthony, 16/05/07