Case Study - Soft Drink

After repeated disappointments in their digital campaigns, and losing share to competitors, this beverage brand doubled down on their usage of TV - knowing it was a mistake.

A major beverage company had been a heavy user of TV advertising since the 1980s. So reliant and so bound by historical practice, that even until 2020, over three-quarters of their media was still spent on this traditional medium. By comparison, the average media allocation to TV had already fallen to less than 50% across the category as a whole. Fully aware of the growing importance of digital, the client had made sporadic attempts to use “new” media with mixed success, always falling short of their must-win expectations.

Frustrated by the repeated lack of success and seeing their share slipping to competitors and adjacent beverage categories such as water, energy drinks and juice, the client agreed to a more comprehensive cross-media campaign review in one key market. Target audience usage of all media used in a major campaign was tracked weekly, along with attitudinal and behavioural KPIs.

Results were used to not only assess the campaign itself but also to model the reach and impact for other “what if” scenarios featuring differing levels of traditional TV, digital TV, banners, apps, in-store and out of home media. The research cost less than 1% of their campaign spend in the market but yielded media savings and efficiency gains of nearly 20%.