Diageo and Coke: better together

Diageo and Coca-Cola have banded together in a joint on-trade campaign pushing pre-mix drinks, under the banner Always Better Together.

The two companies have set aside £4 million for the campaign, which will target 10,000 pubs and bars nationally.

The marketing drive is aimed at building sales of long mixed drinks in pubs and bars, specifically: Gordon’s gin and Schweppes tonic, Pimm’s and Schweppes lemonade, Smirnoff and Coca-Cola and Bell’s whisky and Coca-Cola.

The initiative is set to start in April and will include point of sale (POS) material, an on-trade education programme and consumer services.

The POS kits will address problems that were highlighted by market research, such as the belief among consumers that long mixed drinks are expensive.

They will contain glasses, posters and leaflets to educate the public on what exactly they are getting in their drink and its true price.

David Smith, Diageo sales director, said: "Spirit drinkers tend to visit pubs in groups and spend more money per visit.

"Our commitment to licensees is to help them make more money by providing outlets with the ability to serve fantastic finished drinks and delight consumers.

"Diageo GB’s work with Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) will see a great impact on category growth and should see repeat footfall for licensees."

Dave McNulty, on-premise trading director at CCE, said: "This is a real opportunity to help licensees unlock profitability in their pubs.

“We are two businesses with very iconic brands and we can’t lie idle and let this part of the pub business decline. The way to turn this around is to focus on the quality of the serve as well as value to the consumer."

Both confirmed that of 1,000 pubs that had tested the POS kits, 80% of licensees felt that the material had helped bar staff when mixing drinks and seven out of 10 pubs said sales were up as a result.

Rupert Millar, 10.03.2010