Virgin Cola has undergone a facelift to drive sales and strengthen its position as a credible alternative to Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
The cola, produced under licence by Princes Soft Drinks, has been reformulated following extensive recipe research and consumer taste tests.
It has also been repositioned as a “no-nonsense brand without the hype often associated with other cola brands”, said a spokesman for Princes Soft Drinks. Revamped packs will also feature the strapline ‘It’s just a great new taste’.
According to TNS, the cola market grew 9% in value last year (52 w/e February 29 2004) but sales of Virgin Cola, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, have remained static over the past 12 months -
despite being the first to launch a vanilla cola variant in early 2003.
However, Princes is hoping to change its fortunes with a new tactical marketing campaign in September to communicate the new positioning of Virgin Cola, which will feature event-based campaigns and urban fly posters. “Virgin and Princes both felt that improving the recipe and relaunching the brand in 2004 was a great way to celebrate Virgin’s core values of innovation, quality, irreverence and fun,” said the spokesman. “We’re confident the new recipe will stimulate new consumer trial of the brand.”
Sean McAllister