GSK takes on Coke with Lucozade Cola launch
Consumer healthcare giant GSK is aiming to rival Coca-Cola and Pepsi with the launch of a cola version of its energy soft drink brand Lucozade.
The drink has been launched to retailers, with guidelines from the brand asking for the new variant to be stocked in the “energy drink section on the chiller”, but making clear it is hoping to poach coke drinkers by asking for it to be placed “next to the coke selection where possible.”
An above the line advertising and consumer PR campaign is scheduled to launch later this month. GSK says it chose the flavour as its next Lucozade variant launch as Cola is “the nation’s favourite soft drink flavour”.
The brand is hoping to tap into growth in the energy drink sector which is attracting new customers fastest according to independent industry data. It claims 60% of sales of the blackcurrant flavour it launched earlier this year were incremental in the first 20 weeks.
The bold Lucozade challenge to soft drink giants comes after the firm said it was merging its consumer healthcare and nutritional health divisions to create a ’fast moving consumer healthcare’ company.
