Vita Coco launches ‘biggest’ campaign to help grow coconut water category
Vita Coco has launched its biggest marketing campaign in the UK to date, leading on its brand’s “own flamboyant personality” rather than previous ambassador Rihanna, as it looks to double its sales and grow awareness of the wider coconut water category.
The brand’s summer campaign launches today (15 July) and will feature outdoor, in print (see full image below) and experiential activity at various events including the Virgin Triathlon and music festivals.
The creative carries the strapline “let nature do its thing”, which UK marketing director Pip Brook told Marketing Week says is about helping consumers “live life to the full”.
She adds: “We are keeping the emotive part of the brand alive with ‘do your thing’ and functional with ‘get nature’. It’s about living life to the full whatever that means to you: it could be training for a marathon or partying the night away.
“This is our big year of step changes as a brand. Last year we did a big above the line campaign [featuring Rihanna, who still works with the brand on a global level] but we are increasing marketing investment year on year as the business grows – particularly in experiential where we employ our own, often flamboyant, brand education teams. We will try to dial that up this year and continue to be disruptive and create talkability.”
Brook says last year Vita Coco did not just build a brand, but the entire category – although she admits there is still “so much work to be done” to build current low consumer awareness about the benefits of coconut water.
The UK coconut water category is expected to be worth £100m by the end of 2014, according to research by The Grocer and Vita Coco currently represents 94 per cent of category sales across the 26 brands selling in the market, according to Mintel.
Brook says Vita Coco is “on track” to double sales year on year, in spite of recent investment behind rival brands in the sector, such as Coca-Cola’s ZICO.
She adds: “A lot of people said coconut water would be a fad. Now there’s more than 25 brands in the market. A lot of other beverages are being hit hard because of their colourings, sugar and flavourings and so on, but consumers are becoming much more savvy and realise they want natural hydration.”
The second phase of Vita Coco’s summer campaign will launch at the end of the summer and will feature more digital elements as the brand looks to continue its education drive about the coconut water category.
