Ribena
How Brand Acceleration refreshed sales for Ribena.
In March 2007, the Ribena brand was in big trouble. Its claims over the vitamin C content of ready-to-drink Ribena had been publicly challenged by two Pakuranga College students doing a school science project.
GlaxoSmithKline were taken to court and fined $217,500 for misleading customers. So it was hardly surprising when Ribena lost 50% market share after the court case.
The following year was understandably one of damage control. Apologising to consumers, reformulating Ribena, and repackaging to reflect accurate claims about vitamin C content. An organisation called AsureQuality was also brought on board to independently test the whole Ribena range on a regular basis.
By 2008, a new look product was on shelves. So it was time to put the whole vitamin C issue behind us and move forward.
In August 2008, G2 wrote a Brand Accelerator to determine the new direction for the Ribena brand. One that would steer the brand away from the apologetic and negative tack it was taking.
We discovered some interesting facts that helped us to set a new course:
• Ribena’s main competitors were defending share with price. So a real opportunity existed for a “personality” within the category.
• Ribena is seen as a brand that’s part of growing up.
• Despite all the vitamin C issues, kids still love it.
With this in mind, we started exploring more emotional territories. Which is when the idea of enduring friendships came up.
Friends occupy a special place of trust. We believe in our friends, spend time with them, occasionally fall out, but always make up and move on.
This mirrored the way we wanted people to see Ribena. As a long-term friend who had made a mistake, but could be forgiven.
The new brand direction was born: Friends for life.
With this in place, we developed a new television commercial that shows the strong bond of friendship shared between a young boy and his dog.
As the voice over explains “There’s nothing quite like true friendship, or the great taste of Ribena. With blackcurrants that are 100% kiwi grown, Ribena’s been making life long friends for generations.”
The TVC has had a huge impact on consumers, helping them to connect emotionally with the brand again – and forget the negativity that had preceded it.
While this was happening, we searched for the perfect sponsorship opportunity for Ribena that would fit the new direction of the brand. Along the way, we discounted obvious choices such as netball. Instead, we found the perfect match with ‘Flippa Ball’, a fledgling sport for kids that’s loosely based on water polo.
Flippa Ball is designed to increase children’s confidence in the water – which is a nice emotional angle to be linked to. Ribena is now the principle sponsor – or as we like to put it – a friend of Flippa Ball. And it’s a friendship we plan to keep for many years to come.
Judging by the sales results, our new brand direction is proving fruitful. In March 2009, total units sales for Ribena were up by 43% comparedto March 2008.
