Marketing Blogs
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by Karl Treacheron Aug 4 |
A-mother crack at it ...
Karl Treacher ponders why Coca -Cola are bothering to relaunch their energy drink, Mother. Sarah Kelly, public relations manager Coca-Cola South Pacific, is on hand to try and ease Karl's mind. Will the relaunch of Mother (see the TVC below) be a success or should Coca-Cola just quit the energy drink market?
Have a read of both bloggers' views and decide for yourself.
He says ... Karl Treacher, CEO of brand intelligence group Brand Behaviour
What is the difference between Red Bull and Mother. (If you are thinking about your mother with a bull right now, you should be ashamed. I know I am.)
The answer to my question is a little complex. As we probably all know by now Coca-Cola have relaunched their flagship energy drink Mother.
After hitting the deck at speed with their four other attempts (Lift Plus, Burn, Sprite recharge and Vault), Coke have taken stock of their mistakes and have taken another swing at it. This time, bravely admitting they screwed it up - watch the 'Punishing those Responsible' TVC below - and reformulating and repackaging Mother.
But hold on. Why did the TVC show a SWAT team taking out the guys who made the formula? It should have been the CEO handing out termination letters to the Coke marketing team. This time it appears that they may have done a better job with the brand's visual language, however the brand personality is still very ambiguous.
Who is Mother, and who of us wants an affinity with an energy drink that is clearly running last, didn't get off the start line in its last attempt and tastes EXACTLY like Red Bull. Exactly. What is the drink's market? 14 year old wanna be tough kids like the last effort?
My question is, why do Coke think it will work this time? It tastes like Red Bull, looks like something a guy in a blue flannel shirt would take to the Chisel revival concert, and conjures up memories of something that already failed. Is this the dumbest thing Coke has ever done, and should the brand name be changed to 'Toolie'? It seems to me that this brand is what 30 year-old men are to the Schoolies week.
She says ... Sarah Kelly, public relations manager for Coca-Cola South Pacific
The truth is we got the original taste formulation of Mother wrong. We’ve admitted that. Old news. But what now?
Having got the taste wrong last time, but with 85 percent consumer awareness, we saw an opportunity for Mother. So, we looked into what consumers were after from their energy drinks and have worked hard to get it right for this relaunch.
The two critical things we focused on were:
- The taste – the original formulation was a departure from the energy drink norm and prompted extreme reactions from people (love or hate).
- The point of difference – with a market dominated by two players, it’s important to have something that will really make the brand stand out.
This focused approached allowed us to find a new taste formulation for Mother that tested very well with consumers and to identify a global trend in energy drinks – the larger can, giving us differentiation in the market (we are first to market with this in Australia).
It’s this combination of the right taste, the stand out larger can and already high brand awareness, which means we are confident in the future of Mother. The new look and feel of the brand, is also allowing us to appeal to a broader audience. As with any brand, the identity of the brand is designed to appeal to a certain audience – rather than focusing on a smaller niche audience, we are appealing to the broader 18-25 year old male audience.
We are just a month into the launch now, so it’s too early for sales data. However, we’re getting good indications from the trade that consumers are responding positively to Mother.
Now, we all just have to wait and see…
And what does it really taste like? Well, there’s only one way to find out.
So what do you think? Will the relaunch of Mother be a success, or does Karl know something Sarah doesn't?
Will the 'we got it wrong' advertising tactic pursued by Coca-Cola prove successful? (Check out the tank crushing the old Mother in the video below to see how far they've taken this line!)
Or has Mother missed the boat for a second time?
While the people at Coke maybe great a holding market share and lauching line extensions it seems when charged with creating a whole new product and new brand they are not much chop.
I wrote my blog without seeing the tank thing.
...and Christ wept...along with every true marketer in the country.
Yes, if I were an 18-25 year old male I may tell people how 'crazy' it was that Mother got a tank to crush its own 'bad tasting' soft drink, but I also (if I had half a brain) may not want to bother drinking something from a company that admits it made a sh1t drink in the first place. Lets be honest, there are more than two other guarana/caffine/god knows what else-infused drinks on the marketplace that are keeping the whipper snappers studying and partying all night.
But there's another point here I think. So the original clearly wasn't selling. Did the brand conduct taste testings before the launch of that ill-fated product? Presumably, as I doubt a company of Coca-Cola's size and resources would let a product go to market without at least some testing.
Oh to be a fly on the wall in those tests. Clearly the focus group attendess felt that original Mother didn't taste all that bad, hence why it ended up on our shelves. But now the fickle consumers appear to have changed their minds - or at least they weren't buying the product.
So what does Mother do? It goes back to the consumer and taste tests a new formula, and according to Sarah above, this new formula is doing well.
Has nobody stopped to wonder whether the consumer hasn't just made the same mistake again. Crammed into a room with cups of old and new Mother, they're cajoled into opting for the new formula over the old, but can anyone really be sure that these taste tests will translate to sales?
It didn't work with original Mother and I don't know if I can really see it working with the new one.
The relaunch is all about giving this new product *balls* - if the market perceives that finally here's an energy drink with serious attitude, then it *may* succeed. *Tastes nothing like the old one* is primarily a statement to reinforce that attitude.
Nice comments. However, I think the CEO should be torching the consulting firm who convinced them it was the right thing to do, not the marketing department.
It surprises me that everyone, even Coke, is buying the taste line.
It is so not about Taste. Never was.
The reason Mother failed was because the Strategy was wrong. Nothing more to it. It has nothing to do with advertising, or taste or anything else for that matter.
But let's go through the rationale that got them there to begin with.
Coke, having been scarred by the recent failures that you mentioned sought the help of a large US consulting firm.
As this firm is prone to do, they then presented Coke with a pretty compelling argument.
Energy drinks market are growing at 25% plus per year. They are not a player but need to be.
Recent failures have all tried the me too approach - More energy, more buzz etc etc. All cliched strategies and all owned lock stock and barrel by Red Bull and V.
So rightly, they went looking for a new strategy, one that would clearly differentiate Coke in a crowded market.
Using the deductive powers for which they are so well known, the Consulting firm hit upon the mega trend toward 'natural' ingredients.
The thinking that was finally recommended was that Coke's new energy drink should combine the trend for energy drinks with the trend towards natural ingredients. The result?
Mother, the only 100% natural energy drink.
This was the positioning and the strategy. And it has nothing to do with taste.
It was just plain wrong. Why?
Simple.
Target audience? Males 18-24. Usage? Nightclubs and social activities.
Anyone who has anything to do with this market would know that natural ingredients would rate down the bottom within this context.
So in essence they couldn't have picked a worse strategy. 100% natural. Good lord.
The only chance Mother had and probably still has is if they went the 100% chemical strategy.
Then their advertising campaign may well have had a cut through proposition with the audience.
Mother. It's just not natural
Whats the biggest and fastest growing market in energy drinks...coffee!
What demographic group drinks it...everyone!
Make the can smaller so you grab it and go and get it down fast..(similar to your morning short black or cafe latte)
Cost effective to produce,sell, and market ..ride on the back of the coffee boom.
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