Innocent launches TED-style events to push brand values

Innocent is to launch a series of TED-style events as part of its strategy to regain the “entrepreneurial” spirit of its early years and keep a close relationship with consumers despite it now being majority-owned by multinational company Coca-Cola.

Innocent Inspires

The smoothie maker hopes the Innocent Inspires project will enable it to tell the Innocent story to a new generation of consumers and build a relationship with them that is not just about the products it makes.

Last year Innocent marketing director Douglas Lamont told Marketing Week the company planned to dial up its use of “grass roots” marketing channels to remind consumers of its entrepreneurial foundations from when it launched in 1999.

Speakers at each Innocent Inspires event will discuss and debate topics around the brand’s key values: health, ethics, entrepreneurship, taste and creativity.

The first event in the series will invite consumers to join London running team Run Dem Crew for a jog around West London before returning to the Innocent sports hall in North Kensington to hear from Olympian James Cracknell and Embarrassing Bodies GP Dr Pixie McKenna. It takes place on 18 April.

Coca-Cola increased its stake in Innocent to near 100 per cent in February – a move that prompted the company’s founders to step down from the day to day running of the business and highlights the need for the brand to push its founding set of values.

Co-founder Richard Reed took to YouTube to reassure its customers the business will still be run by a “home-grown Innocent team in the same Innocent way” despite the transaction.

Industry experts, however, are concerned the company’s entrepreneurial brand spirit could be diluted and stretched too far with new product launches.

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