Country : NZ, Danone bought Frucor in 2002, Company : Caffrey's now Coors : Agency : ColensoBBDO 1998
Brand: V -- an energy drink which outsells Coca-Cola in oils or petrol stations (this is the only place in the world it does) -- it has 50% plus market share of energy drinks in Australia and NZ
Situational Analysis for Energy Drinks
Global growth of Red Bull started to gain momentum in the mid to late 90's
The category leader was or is (many would say so) Red Bull http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Bull
The brand has a mixture of taurine (an amino acid) and caffeine and promised to 'give you wings' (ie physical energy)
The brand had established itself globally as a 'night time drink' associated with clubbing, extreme sports (such as skateboarding, extreme motocross, extreme skydiving and outdoor sports with an element of danger)
In the late 90's Frucor (at the time an independent company) had developed a receipe using guarana ' a natural buzz' which had a distinct -- 'fresh' taste profile -- it has a citrus tang.
The Market
The company launched as a daytime energy drink:
In the late 90's the only main competition was Red Bull
When "V" launched -- the company was small and "did not know how successful it would really be" the results are shown below -- suffice it to say at this stage in the case study the brand exploded beyond the company's expectations immediately
Country Ad Language:
Both New Zealand and Australia's advertising is very direct, with the general maxim 'what you see is what you get'
Australia's advertising is more American and New Zealand's advertising still has more British influence
However both countries have their own advertising language which is individual (from an International perspective -- it is like saying Germany and Switzerland are the same -- they are similar but different
Brands targeted at youth often have a particular type of 'mucking-around', physical humour element to them
The challenge:
The company did not entirely understand the reasons for the brand's outrageous success and did not have a true understanding of what the brand's essence was
Jake Pearce used semiotics to uncloak the essence laying the foundation for the brand which remains the same today
Strategic Approach:
Semiotic analysis uncovered the paradox central to the brand's success -- natural, positive energy from an energy drink
This can be clearly seen in the ads as part of this case study
Results:
The brand has 60% of the energy drink market in New Zealand and 53% in Australia
It has dominated the market since its launch in 1997 in NZ
It remains one of the few countries in the world where Red Bull or a multi-national does not dominate
It was one of the key reasons Frucor was bought by Danone in 2002 for 294 million
The company was acquired from Danone by Suntory for 1.3 billion in 2008 (http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/suntory-pay-13-billion-frucor-36918)
V continues to be a jewel in the crown of the company's portfolio
For the full case study e-mail : info@semiotic-analysis.com
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Semiotics and brandingby JakeCWPearce70 views
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