Robinsons to double spend for Wimbledon

Robinsons, the squash brand, is doubling its spend for Wimbledon 2005 to celebrate its 70-year presence at the grass-court tennis tournament. The Britvic-owned brand is spending &£3.5m over a six-week period to commemorate the anniversary.

The brand will retain its position as the tournament’s official soft drink and will sponsor British tennis stars Tim Henman and Andy Murray. It will also include on-pack promotions, radio and outdoor advertising. A fleet of 70 taxis will be liveried in the style of Robinsons’ “Diffusion” television ads, which show juice mixing with water and milk.

The promotion will also include the first “competition scratchcard” taxi receipts, which offer travellers the chance to win tickets to this year’s tournament.

Brand controller Jonathan Gatward says he believes the extra cash celebrating the association will help increase sales. Britvic-commissioned research shows Robinsons had a 38 per cent spontaneous awareness rating with consumers in summer. The juice brand has been associated with the All England Club since 1935, following the launch of the drink as a concentrate at the championship.

The BBC, which is the tournament’s broadcaster, has this year appointed an outside agency to handle its advertising for Wimbledon for the first time.

DFGW, a BBC incumbent, was awarded the task, which had been handled in-house.