Britvic/Pepsi plan £3m relaunch of Pepsi Max low-sugar brand

Pepsi is to put &£3m behind a relaunch of Pepsi Max with new packaging and a television advertising campaign.

The brand has not advertised on TV for three years, but Pepsi is reacting to a perceived consumer demand for less sugary, low-calorie drinks to give the brand a boost.

Pepsi Max has no added sugar and is formulated to taste closer to Pepsi Cola than Diet Pepsi. The ad campaign will begin at the end of August and will target students as they return to college.

The new advertising will introduce four characters who take up kung fu poses for the campaign, under the strapline “extreme fun”. The ads have been created by Abbott Mead Vickers.BDDO and the kung fu imagery will be extended to the drink’s packaging.

Pepsi Max has had no recorded advertising spend since mid-2002, but distributor Britvic Soft Drinks has decided to dig into its marketing war chest following the renewal of its long-term bottling agreement with Pepsi. The two companies announced that marketing spend would double on Pepsi products following the new deal (MW March 18).

Pepsi Max was launched in the UK in 1993 and after a year’s trial was rolled out to several international markets.

The company has not yet revealed any plans to launch its mid-calorie cola, Pepsi Edge, in the UK. The product was launched in the US last month.