CDP nets 5m Japanese energy drink launch

CDP has picked up the advertising account for the UK launch of Japanese energy drink Lipovitan.

The launch is believed to have a marketing budget of about 5m over three years, and it will be supported by a TV, press and poster campaign.

Lipovitan is produced by Japan’s largest over-the-counter pharmaceutical company, Taisho Pharmaceuticals, and is already available in Europe, in Germany. It will go on sale in the UK in the second half of the year.

CDP managing director Chris Macleod says the drink will be targeted at a much broader market than other energy drinks.

It will be positioned as an everyday drink, like coffee, rather than a sports or health product.

In Japan, there are several recipe variants, but in the UK a single product will be available in the short term.

Lipovitan contains taurin and royal jelly, as well as added vitamins.

CDP was tipped to take the business (MW December 13 1996) as the drink’s advertising is handled worldwide by Japanese advertising network Dentsu – represented in the UK by CDP.