Lucozade Sport - Increasing
customer awareness
introduction
Every year hundreds of products are launched to the market, all vying
for shelf space and consumers’ attention. However, successfully
launching a product is not just bringing it to the market, but involves a
significant amount of research before any launch activity can take
place.This ensures product success in the long term. One such brand
that has been successfully launched to the Irish market is Lucozade
Sport, becoming Irelands No. 1 sports drink.This was achieved through
a combination of advertising and by building strong relationships with
key sports associations within Ireland in the sporting arena.
This case study will take you through the significant steps in launching
a product, including establishing the target market, creating a strong
awareness once the product has been launched and ensuring its
viability and long term success.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the parent company of Lucozade Sport, one of
the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare
companies, is committed to improving the quality of human life by
enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. GSK has 108
manufacturing sites in 41 countries with over 100,000 employees.
Lucozade Sport is one of the Company’s principal products in the
Consumer Healthcare business.
Lucozade Sport
The Product and Brand
The Lucozade Sport brand and product has developed into a credible
sports brand due to its scientific formulation and comprehensive
marketing support. Utilizing the company’s pharmaceutical research
techniques, the brand is scientifically proven and demonstrated to extend
athletes’ sporting endurance by 33% longer than water. Lucozade Sport
is also Ireland’s leading sports drink and first choice for those who are
serious about improving their sporting performance. The ‘33% Longer
Claim’ is used to market Lucozade Sport and is supported by a study
conducted at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom. The
results were published in the Journal of Sports Science in 1995.
The Learning Curve
This brand is a credible and natural extension to the Lucozade parent
brand launched in 1954. Lucozade is synonymous with energy, and due
to the fast pace of life, consumers constantly need to recharge.
As product usage and consumption are important marketing concerns
it is recommended that for maximum benefits, Lucozade Sport should
be taken before, during and after sport. It is purposefully targeted at
sports participants and enthusiasts alike. Lucozade Sport is distinctively
positioned as a product that meets sports energy and refreshment
requirements and this positioning is supported through integrated
sponsorship and advertising campaigns.
So how did Lucozade Sport get to this No. 1 position? This can be seen
more clearly by looking at ‘The Product Life Cycle’.
Marketing and New
Product Development
Marketing is a business attitude that puts the needs and wants of the
customer first. This philosophy is called the marketing concept and
seeks to find out what customers want, and then tries, through new
product development, to produce and deliver such requirements more
profitably and more effectively than competitors.
The Product Life Cycle
From the diagram below, we can see the product life cycle and the
significant stages throughout.The first step before launching a product is
market research, this will help assess the viability of the launch and the
consumer needs within the market.
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Fifth edition
The Product Life Cycle Lucozade Sports’
From New Product Development to Product decline
Target Market
New Product Launch Growth Maturity Decline
Development
(NPD) Advertising &
Sales Promotion The target market is a precise description of the customers a
is important here. Sales
Revenue product will be aimed at. Lucozade Sport co-ordinates its marketing
Final Stage in NPD
mix to effectively target this precise segment of the market.
Cash
Flows GSK have determined that the sports enthusiasts represent the most
closely aligned segment meeting the characteristics of Lucozade Sport.
TIME This segment includes all sports enthusiasts. Whether they are active
participants or have a passive interest in sports, they have a high
Market Research
involvement with sports.These enthusiasts love the camaraderie of sport
and have their own sporting heroes who they admire and follow. The
Lucozade Sport brand allows for these enthusiasts to increase their
Market Research and
involvement in the sport.
New Product Development
Scientific research enabled GSK to identify an opportunity. Lucozade Sport
was launched in 1991 effectively creating the sports drink category as the
first major isotonic drink in Ireland and the UK.The launch of a product is
the final stage in the new product development process and must be
accompanied by different forms of advertising and sales promotion tools
to make the consumers aware that the product is available.
At the beginning and throughout the development process market
research is used. At GSK market research results were analysed to
identify the different types of consumers in the market. Market
segmentation was used to divide consumers into different categories,
e.g. young females, high-income males, sports enthusiasts’ etc. This is a
concept based on three assumptions:
1. Consumers have varying profiles, e.g. male, female, young and old.
2. Differences in consumers are related to differences in the demand
for products e.g. a person with an active lifestyle may be more
interested in sports related goods.
3. The marketing manager can then target each segment with different The Launch
offerings in line with their particular needs.This is called targeting.
After the research was undertaken and the target market firmly
It is not cost-effective to sell to all segments of a market. It is better to established, Lucozade Sport was originally launched in a 330ml can format
concentrate on the segment from which the company will get the larger as a carbonated orange drink and the range was later extended to include
share or increased sales.The marketing function will therefore focus on
a 300ml carbonated one shot bottle with a distinctive wide neck design
targeting this segment.
and resealable cap. The popular 500ml still version was subsequently
introduced and is now available in a four pack, designed for take home use.
The most recent addition to the sport family is the squeezy pouch pack.
Lucozade Sports’ eye-catching pack designs have also ser ved to
distinguish the brand that retails in vibrant blue and yellow shades,
complete with action-packed graphics, including a running man.
Theses graphics are used throughout all advertising and point of sale
to create strong impact especially at the point of purchase.
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Advertising the Product
As stated the launch of a product is the final stage in the new product
development process and must be accompanied by advertising and
sales promotion to make the consumers aware that the product is
available. Through advertising the product, brand awareness is
developed and product trial is encouraged, ensuring long term visibility
and sales growth. Advertising is an important way of relating brand
values to your target market.
Television Advertising
Television campaigns are designed to clearly illustrate visually the
brand’s scientific claims and establish links with sporting enthusiasts.
Television is a primary medium to reach a large number of the
population quickly and cost effectively.
The first TV advertisement to launch Lucozade Sport featured John
Barnes, the UK footballer. This campaign was specifically designed to
highlight how the products isotonic formulation is in balance with the
body’s own fluid. Lucozade Sport’s isotonic formulation that optimises
fast fluid absorption and counteracts dehydration, which can result in
overheating during sport, was highlighted in the advertising message.
By delivering glucose, which is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream,
Lucozade Sport was launched as a distinctly differentiated product in
the sports drinks category.
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information contained in this case study, no liability shall attach to either The Irish Times Ltd. or Woodgrange Technologies Ltd. for any errors or omissions in this case study.
Business 2000
Fifth edition
The use of a highly respected and admired personality serves to enhance
visibility, of the then new brand, and to establishing sporting credentials
with the target market.
More recent campaigns have featured leading striker Alan Shearer. The
latest campaign continues to highlight the ‘33% extra claim’, which
demonstrates the benefits of the product compared to water.
Sponsorship Campaigns
Although advertising creates a high impact to a mass audience quickly,
creating associations with individual professional bodies has a trickle
down effect. This means that those interested in sport will see their
heroes drinking the product, and hence they too will understand the
brand’s credibility. Informing consumers about the existence of Lucozade
Sport, and highlighting the benefits of the brand can create good
publicity. This can successfully be
achieved, among other methods,
through sponsorship.
Sponsorship is an integral method in
the development of the Lucozade
Sport marketing strategy, which
ensures an integrated approach, is
taken in promoting Lucozade Sport.
Sponsorship is used to develop the
brand’s profile in the sports arena.
By developing Lucozade Sport’s
profile in this spor ts arena, the
brand is seen to support sports
clubs and build a link with a range of
important events including GAA,
rugby and soccer fixtures.
Lucozade Sport is now the Official Sports Drink of the National
Coaching and Training College (NCTC), Ireland’s organisation for top
athletes, Irish Basketball Association, Professional Golfers’ Association
(PGA), the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and the Dublin City
Marathon. These relationships suggest top-level endorsement of the
brand from the respective sporting bodies, enhancing its credibility in
supporting sports performance and its status as Ireland’s leading sports
drink. Each campaign offers Lucozade Sport exposure to large numbers
of consumers, whilst reinforcing Lucozade Sport as Ireland’s leading
sports drink. Positive image building and favourable attitudes towards the
brand are subsequently developed through these relationships.
These relationships help reflect and reinforce the brands positioning as
Ireland’s No. 1 sports drink. The close association of the brand with the
premier league appears to have been a vital element in its increased
popularity. Given recent Irish successes in the football field, with soccer
stars such as Roy Keane.
The Internet – www.a2zsoccer.com This promotion was supported in shops and supermarkets by signage
or point of sale material designed to capture the attention and stimulate
Extending onto the Internet, the brand is also involved with website impulse buying. Samples of the product were distributed at sports
a2zsoccer.com.This site is Ireland’s soccer community online. It provides fixtures and the use of merchandising at these events with eye-catching
news, fixtures, results, tables, training and free web space for covering advertising around the perimeter consolidated the connection with
amateur sport events and news and is an ideal opportunity for Lucozade Lucozade Sport. Ensuring that Lucozade Sport remains at the forefront
Sport to get involved at community level. Through competitions in the at major sporting fixtures, highly visible street merchandising is organised
schools to design soccer kits, this site provides an opportunity for in close proximity to the events. Sponsorship activity around high profile
Lucozade Sport to target the recreational or occasional enthusiast with events is also supported through TV advertising aired at the same time.
appropriate sporting advice.
Conclusion
Integrating Sponsorship
with the Marketing Mix Lucozade Sport as market leader has proven to be a credible brand
in the sports drinks category. Scientifically proven to benefit athletes,
For sponsorship to be really successful it needs to be co-ordinated with GSK have decided to target the sports enthusiast segment of the
other elements of the marketing mix.A good example of this co-ordination market, who desired a sports drink product. Through an integrated
and integration is how Lucozade Sport’s Lions Tour sponsorship was linked marketing campaign, with a single minded proposition, involving
with an on-pack promotion offering consumers the chance to win a trip for impactful advertising and developing strong partnerships with
two to Australia to see the Lions in action. Special promotional bottles professional sports associations, Lucozade Sport has strong consumer
featuring the tagline ‘Catch the Lions in Oz’, were produced especially for awareness and credibility making it Irelands leading sports drink.
the Lions Tour sponsorship campaign. Whilst cleverly incorporating rugby
graphics and highlighting the ‘Oz’ wording within the brand’s name these
special bottles were designed to ensure that products were sold as quickly Ta s k s a n d A c t i v i t i e s
as possible. Point of Sale material and high profile public relations activities
further highlighted the offer and the sponsorship of the Lions squad. The 1. Explain in your own words why consumers need to be
intention of Point of Sale material is to be eye-catching and attractive made aware of new products.
enough to stimulate impulse buying.
2. Explain the following terms
a) marketing concept
b) market research
c) new product development
d) market segmentation
e) target market
3. What is the importance of market research throughout the
product life cycle? How would the product life cycle look for a fad?
4. Explain the following terms
a) advertising campaign
b) sales promotion
c) sponsorship
d) endorsement
e) merchandising
f) point-of-sale materials
www.gsk.com
www.lucozadesport.com
www.a2zsoccer.com
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