Coca-Cola plans Powerade ad push

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Coca-Cola will launch a multi- million-pound advertising push behind energy drink Powerade, along with other brands in its soft drinks portfolio, on the back of the company’s &£15m sponsorship of the Football League.

The company is positioning Powerade as a professional sports drink in a bid to directly rival GlaxoSmithKline’s market leader Lucozade Sport. The company will give supplies of the drink to each of the 72 football clubs for use on the pitch during games. Players will be encouraged to either drink Powerade or drink from Powerade-branded bottles.

The company will also work with the clubs’ medical staff to create training programmes using Powerade. Advertising for the brand will run in matchday programmes. The company also plans to launch a number of initiatives to promote Diet Coke on the back of the association.

The strategy will be unveiled this week, when the company will confirm its plans to launch a &£7m ad campaign that will see its iconic red and white logo transformed into the colours of the 72 Football League teams (MW last week).

The company will also launch the “Million Pound Goal Chase”, a challenge for teams in the three leagues to score more goals between them than in any other season. The clubs will receive &£1m for the training of new talent if they succeed in beating the 4,354 goals scored in the 2001/02 season.

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