Lucozade looks to become more everyday product with £14m campaign

Lucozade’s new £14m brand positioning campaign “Find Your Flow” is crucial for the brand to be seen as “more than just a sickness and hangover-cure” according to brand director David Stratton.

TV ads, along with social media activity, will be rolled out this month, championing the brand’s appeal to commuters caught up in everyday situations through its “Find Your Flow” messaging and a focus on the “iconic” shape of the Lucozade bottle.

There will also be a step up in OOH activity, with the brand aiming to put one million bottles into the hands of commuters through activity at UK stations including Manchester Piccadilly, London’s Oxford Circus and London Waterloo.

Stratton told Marketing Week that the campaign, designed by Grey London, is all about changing the public’s perception of Lucozade.

“You don’t become a £320m brand by only standing for a couple of occasions but there is room to make Lucozade top of mind in more areas. We want it to be the solution to a lot more everyday situations such as the commute home or the afternoon slump at work,” he explained.

“I think in the past our ads had a real swagger and were delivered with that glint in their eye – we have perhaps lost that excitement. With these new ads, I think that personality is shining through again.”

The sugar debate

Lucozade owner Suntory, which also owns sister brand Ribena [Lucozade and Ribena were sold by long-term owners GlaxoSmithKline to Suntory for £1.35 billion two years ago], has been in the headlines recently after Tesco opted to stop selling some children’s variants of Ribena due to its negative impact on health.

And Stratton admits that the current sugar clampdown within British retail has forced the brand to look at things differently.

“It’s now all about ensuring we offer the consumers proper choice, that is what we are now most conscious of,” he added.

“Our product pipeline is focused on as many non-sugar options as possible. The innovation here, whether at Lucozade or Ribena, is driven by sugar free.

“I wouldn’t call what we are seeing a witchhunt at all. We are collaborating positively with the retailers to ensure we are responsible.”

Lucozade recently launched a Cloudy Lemonade flavour, which had a 50% reduction in sugar and Stratton said it will soon follow it with a Tropical Fusion variant.

He also said that the rest of this year’s sporting marketing activity will be focused on the Rugby World Cup with football “taking a back seat.”

He concluded: “It isn’t about one or the other, we aim to support our three key sports (football, rugby and running) evenly. But our focus is always to support the one that ties into a major event so rugby will be the driver this year.”

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