Lucozade Energy is delivering its biggest ever sampling activity across the UK this year as part of its wide-reaching Energy Beats Everything campaign. The brand’s extensive sampling will see seven million ice-cold orange 150ml cans being circulated during this campaign will drive sales of Lucozade Energy by getting the drink into the hands of consumers.

The brand is also handing out vouchers as part of the sampling campaign, giving consumers 50p coupons to be redeemed against any Lucozade Energy or Lucozade Zero SKU.

Sampling for the UK’s number one energy drink will be activated nationwide, in high footfall cities and the surrounding areas throughout England, Scotland and Wales. The brand is spending a total of £28m on the Energy Beats Everything campaign, which will also include nationwide TV, outdoor and digital activity, alongside in-store marketing.

Bridget Hirst, Brand Manager at Lucozade Ribena Suntory, says: “In the past, our extensive sampling campaigns have proven to drive a 9% sales uplift on Lucozade Energy.”

Lucozade Ribena Suntory is one of the leading soft drinks businesses in the UK and Ireland. LRS was formed in 2014 and is part of Suntory Beverage & Food Europe. Its soft drinks brands include Lucozade Energy, Lucozade Sport, Fitwater, Ribena, Orangina and True Nopal cactus water.

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Easy-to-digest milk brand a2 Milk has just run a digitally-powered “Try Me Free” campaign to increase visibility in store at the point of purchase and drive trial.

a2 Milk is a pure cow’s milk that’s naturally free-from the A1 protein found in regular cows’ milk, which some people have challenges digesting. a2 Milk hand-select cows that naturally produce only the easy to digest A2 protein so that many people can enjoy the benefits of dairy without stomach problems.

To increase awareness of the brand and the promotion, over 200,000 bottles were promoted using a “Try Me Free” neck collar. On purchasing the promotional product in-store, consumers opened the neck collar and were prompted to visit www.trya2milk.co.uk where they could claim their free product.

The promotion and the supporting website were created by Activate by Shopmium through a completely digital redemption process. Consumers registered on the site, provided feedback on their experience with the product, uploaded a picture of their receipt, entered either their PayPal or Bank Account details and then received their cashback.

The campaign was initially trialled across Waitrose over the course of November 2017 and was successfully rolled out across all retailers during January and February 2018.

Sarah Shakespeare, Social & Digital Content Manager at a2 Milk, says: “The Try Me Free campaign has gone very smoothly. The neck collars delivered good stand out on shelf and the redemption process was very easy for our consumers to use.”.

Activate by Shopmium is a Quotient Technology brand, enabling brands to drive measurable sales from their digital, on pack and in-store marketing spend.

Quotient Technology Inc., which was previously known as Coupons.com Incorporated, is a leading digital promotion and media platform that connects brands, retailers and consumers. It distributes digital coupons and media through a variety of products, including: digital printable coupons, digital paperless coupons, coupon codes, and card linked offers.

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Essity, the Swedish health and hygiene group, is backing its new Cushelle Quilted toilet paper variant, launched in January, with an integrated below-the-line campaign aimed at helping drive awareness and trial of the new variant – which is claimed to be the brand’s “most cushiony-soft toilet tissue ever”.

Cushelle Quilted was introduced into retail stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland in January 2018. The new campaign, which spans the full shopper journey, aims to increase penetration by reinforcing the product superiority and ‘Quiltiness’ by asking shoppers to test just how ‘Quilty’ the paper is for themselves.

The activity, created for Essity by Manchester-based marketing agency Blue Chip, includes a money back guarantee being promoted across selected shopper media to drive trial at the point of purchase. Additionally, a door drop and Automated Teller Machine (ATM) couponing will deliver the same message and a further incentive to purchase out of store.

The door drop, featuring the Cushelle brand character Kenny the Koala, will hit 4 million doormats across the UK in March, a week after a new Cushelle Quilted TV advertisement hits screens.

Lauren Roberts, Account Manager at Blue Chip, says: “This promotional activity carefully considered how we would convert shoppers to the new Quilted product. The money back guarantee is a proven trial driver, removing the risk of purchase and making it the perfect choice for this NPD. Driving penetration was also a key objective. By adding a door drop with two £1.00 money off coupons, we aim to further incentivise shoppers to try this new product for themselves.”

The money back guarantee will be valid in retailers including Asda UK, Waitrose UK, Co-op UK, Ocado UK, Morrisons UK, Tesco ROI, Dunnes ROI and SuperValu ROI.

Essity was formerly part of SCA, the giant Swedish paper products group. Its brands include a number that were bought from Procter & Gamble in 2007, when SCA acquired P&G’s European paper operations, including Charmin. While Charmin is still sold by P&G under that brand name in the US, SCA rebranded Charmin as Zewa in Germany and Cushelle in the UK.

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Shoppers are as deal hungry as ever this Christmas, with 42% stating they are on the lookout for promotional offers for the festive supermarket shop, according to a survey by coupon experts Valassis Limited.

This percentage has increased in recent years from 38% in 2015 and 2014. Nearly half (46%) of all shoppers agree that they spend more time at Christmas seeking out promotions to ensure they keep within their budget, up from 42% in 2016.

The survey by Valassis Limited, the UK’s largest coupon and voucher services provider, shows that 2-for- 1 offers are the most popular promotion with 48% of consumers stating these would entice them to shop away from their main supermarket over the festive season, an increase from 43% last year.

Additionally, 16-24 year olds are the most motivated, with over half (57%) citing 2-for-1 offers as a reason to shop away. These offers are closely followed by Everyday Low Prices (EDLPs) tempting 43% of shoppers and coupons and vouchers favoured by 42%.

Promotions influence not only the supermarket that shoppers frequent, but also the products they buy. Nearly half of shoppers (48%) agree that relevant product coupons sway their decision on the brand they buy and 44% describe themselves as someone who actively seeks out coupons and vouchers before a supermarket shop.

Coupons and vouchers are not just attracting those who have to budget carefully. In fact, more affluent consumers are even more attracted to them: the survey shows 29% of ABC1s agreeing with the statement “I would describe myself as someone who actively seeks out coupons and vouchers,” compared to just 26% of C2DEs.

The Valassis survey results also underline a year-on-year decrease in supermarket loyalty. Consumer loyalty to one supermarket seems long gone, with only 16% of consumers stating they will not shop away from their main supermarket this festive season, down from 21% last year. This lack of loyalty is not just for Christmas, with only 11% of shoppers claiming to visit just one store each month.

The “deep discounters” are, interestingly, the pick of the bunch for shoppers this Christmas with 28% planning to do their main festive shop at Aldi, up from 25% last year, and 27% at Lidl. These shopping intentions are higher than for more mainstream grocery supermarkets.

Looking at the uptake of new technologies within grocery, online grocery shopping/home delivery has increased year-on-year with 25% of consumers stating they use this option either “often” or “always,” compared to 21% in 2016. Self-checkouts continue to increase in popularity, as a result of the rise of top-up shopping trips, with 40% of shoppers saying they often or always use them, up from 26% in 2016. Perhaps not surprisingly and tying in with their confidence in technology, younger age groups (over half of 16-24 and 25-34 year olds) are more likely to use self-checkouts. Beyond grocery, younger shoppers are also more likely to regularly use their phone for digital offers in High Street shops and restaurants – 24% of 16-24 and 30% of 25-34 year olds.

Charles D’Oyly, Valassis’ Managing Director, comments: “With the array of supermarkets being within easy reach of most shoppers, it has never been easier to cherry-pick the best deals. Perhaps the financial crisis of 2007 created a permanently more promotionally savvy shopper. Our research suggests, more than ever before, that deep discounters, 2-for-1s, vouchers and coupons have the strongest influence over the festive food shopping contest this year.”

The survey findings are based on an online survey of 2,002 nationally representative adults, conducted by GfK NOP from 20 to 24 October 2017 on behalf of Valassis Limited.

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