Coca-Cola launch takes on Pepsi’s Mountain Dew
Coca-Cola is planning to challenge PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew with the launch of a rival product called Surge.
Like Mountain Dew, Surge is a carbonated bright green, citrus flavoured drink which will have a high calorie and caffeine count. The drink will be less fizzy than other similar drinks.
The US launch will be backed by a reported $50m (32m) marketing budget, with two advertisements due to be shown during the US Superbowl football final at the end of January. Leo Burnett Chicago, the agency handling the launch campaign, will use the slogan, “Feed the rush”.
Surge is likely to target teenagers and young adults and contains a mix of caffeine and an energy ingredient found in Coke’s Powerade brand. The drinks come in red and green cans with wide mouths, for extra “chuggability” – a feature claimed to be favoured by teenagers.
Coke tested a similar drink called Urge in Norway earlier this year. But given the success of Coke’s core brands in the US this year, it was thought unlikely the company would introduce a new brand there.
PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew has been highly profitable for the company virtually since it bought the brand in 1964 – partly because it is largely distributed through vending machines and convenience outlets and so is rarely sold at a discount. The brand accounted for 20 per cent of Pepsi’s profits last year, say analysts, and was introduced in the UK earlier this year.
Surge follows “new age” beverage Fruitopia and OK – an orange, peppery drink – in the line of new launches from Coke. Fruitopia was withdrawn from sale in the UK earlier this year after poor sales.
A Dutch company called Pre Party Marketing is launching a lemon-flavoured drink called Exit, which claims to reduce the effects of alcohol in the body.
