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Launched in April 1998 with a pounds 9m campaign through Saatchi &

Saatchi, Procter & Gamble’s Sunny Delight rapidly established itself as

a leading soft drink brand, becoming the most successful UK grocery

launch of the decade according to Marketing’s Biggest Brands Survey

1999.

Despite the vitamin enriched formula, P&G’s water, sugar and vegetable

oil cocktail drew criticism from the Food Commission for misleading

packaging, high sugar and low juice content - and the company found

itself on the end of negative press.

The drink which kick-started the chilled juice market is now being

challenged by Britvic, which has an pounds 8m ad campaign for Juice Up,

a new juice drink which it claims has more fruit juice and less

sugar.

To meet the challenge P&G plans an October roll-out of Light Sunny

Delight, which boasts no added sugar and 10% fruit juice - twice the

amount of the original.

Marketing asked two brand experts to look at the state of the Sunny

Delight brand positioning. Fiona McAnena is MD for brand consultancy

Added Value.

Helena Rubenstein is MD of Leo Burnett-owned brand consultancy the lab,

whose clients include Coca-Cola.

DIAGNOSIS

FIONA MCANENA

Sunny Delight is not everyone’s idea of a healthy option, but it’s clear

some parents are happy that their children voluntarily drink something

’vitamin-enriched’ and vaguely citrus-related.

Parents pick the issues, nutritional and otherwise, on which they do

battle for, and with, their kids. For many Sunny Delight is better than

a carbonated soft drink. ’Good for you’ is a relative concept,

especially when it’s ’good for them’. The problem is that it poses as a

pure juice: the variant descriptors, the pack claim, and most of all,

sitting in the chiller cabinet. It is an imposter alongside the orange

juice - but full marks to P&G for this strategy, which I suspect is what

has given the hassled parent confidence in Sunny Delight as a

(relatively) nutritious choice.

The product is in fact ambient so it’s easily distributed, which suits

retailers too. Good distribution, child appeal and parental tolerance

make a strong position from which to repel imitators. The challenge is

to maintain saliency in people’s minds and visibility instore. The

arrival of a direct competitor may actually be helpful.

HELENA RUBENSTEIN

Sunny Delight was a fun drink designed to appeal to kids and parents -

kids because it was fun, parents because it was healthy.

The marketing was great and in the early days it was saying something

new. Paradoxically, good marketing raised expectations and the brand

fell foul of bad press that implied it wasn’t as healthy as buyers had

been led to believe. Consumers have gone beyond talking about healthy

food to actively demanding it - at a reasonable price.

The challenge for Sunny Delight is to correct the imbalance and provide

a fun drink that tastes good and lives up to its health claims. The

addition of a low-sugar version would go some way to achieving that

goal.

The ’great drinks for kids’ space was a comfortable one for Sunny

Delight. Britvic’s Juice Up is entering the packed health food space,

rather than the thirsty kids’ space, so there is potential for the two

to survive by targeting separate audiences.

If Juice Up encroaches upon Sunny D’s space, it’s likely to be where the

early Sunny Delight drinkers are now teenagers, more appearance- and

health-conscious.

TREATMENT

McAnena’s medicine

- Innovate: to maintain the product news and stay ahead of new

arrivals.

- Sustain brand involvement for kids (the online magazine, games

etc).

- Continue to be confident.

- Go for ubiquity: via catering and vending as well as retail.

- Extend beyond drinks - I’d start with citrus-informed snacks and ice

lollies.

Rubenstein’s remedies

- Sunny Delight must now make a choice - go with fun-filled Florida

juice or compete in the burgeoning health drinks sector.

- Lose the compromise message - it’s not reassuring the parent, it’s not

appealing to kids, and it’s damaging the brand.

- Don’t react to Juice Up - to launch into the healthy space while

dealing with a compromised parent brand would be detrimental.

VITAL SIGNS

Brand             Launched          Marketing         Ad

                                    spend             agency

Sunny Delight     April 1998        pounds 9.2m       Saatchi & Saatchi

Juice Up          This week         pounds 8m         HHCL & Partners