6.5m ad blitz for Dr Pepper

Cadbury Schweppes is making its biggest advertising commitment so far to the Dr Pepper brand in the UK by investing 6.5m in a new campaign.

The campaign, created by Young & Rubicam, represents an increased investment of more than double the brand’s previous ad spend. According to ACNielsen-MEAL figures, in the 12 months to the end of December 1997 Cadbury Schweppes spent just 1.9m on the soft drink.

The ad, carrying the “You’ve got to try it to love it” strapline, breaks in the UK this weekend and will then roll out across Europe. Cadburys Schweppes bought the brand – the number three soft drink in the US – for 1.6bn in 1995.

“In today’s highly competitive soft drinks market it’s imperative that we invest substantially in the brand to deliver growth and continue to grow the category,” says Dr Pepper marketing director Andrew Mann. “There are two reasons for increasing the ad spend. Firstly because it has been performing well and, secondly, because Dr Pepper is a big international brand for Cadbury Schweppes.”

Traditionally the brand has been aimed at teenagers but the new campaign, with its space-age imagery, seems designed to take in an older market.

The company launched a 16m pan-European campaign for Schweppes, its other main global brand, last month (MW March 19).