Energy and sports drink sales are growing in South Africa, and the trend is expected to continue. Helping fuel demand and growth in the multi-billion rand energy drink category are: shifting consumer tastes, specifically among female consumers, a broad range of new flavours and variants such as reduced sugar and drinks rich in electrolytes, amino acids, vitamins and essential nutrients. All of which are supported by improved distribution networks, leading competitive pricing models and communication strategies. One such addition to the market is the fantastic new South African made aQuellé ViV Sports and Power Drinks, produced by Ekhamanzi Springs.
The new aQuellé ViV range consists of four unique variants, all made from natural spring water. The Pineberry, Gardenfuit and Kalamansi sports drinks revive with added electrolytes and vitamin B, while ViV Power contains guarana and natural caffeine for an additional boost.
This new range has already scooped two prestigious awards. aQuellé recently won a global award for ViV at the Zenith Global 17th Global Water Drinks Award, where ViV took the honours in the category "Best New Brand". The industry's only Global Drinks Award is designed to celebrate excellence and innovation across every category of the packaged water industry. Winning the award affords brand and product recognition on an international scale.
ViV was also recently recognised at the IPSA Gold Pack Awards, a showcase of the South African packaging industry. ViV took Gold in both the Beverages and Best in Plastic categories at these prestigious awards, where judges look for excellent application and execution of any new, innovative or creative design or technology to packaging produced in Africa.
Winning both the recent Zenith Global Water Drinks Award and the IPSA Gold Pack Awards only weeks apart is a highlight for the launch of aQuellé ViV Sports and Power Drinks.
According to an article by Kerry Ingredients, "GlobalData research from 2018 ranked the energy drink category second in the Top 5 Best Performing Soft Drinks in South Africa by value. Meanwhile, a Mordor Intelligence report indicates a projected value growth of 10.9% CAGR and volume growth of 10.2% CAGR between 2020 and 2024. With new innovations, the category could have even greater gains."
Based on a report from 'Insight Survey B2B Market Research firm', The global Sports Drinks market volume is estimated at approximately 12.5 billion litres, and the global Energy Drinks market size is estimated to be approximately 11.4 billion litres. The Sports Drinks market is estimated to reach US$32.6 billion in sales by 2026, with a CAGR of 4.2% over the forecast period of 2019-2026, whereas the Energy Drinks market is estimated to reach US$86 billion by 2026, with a CAGR of 7.2% over the same period. Both markets are predicted to continue to experience growth in the upcoming years.
According to a report by researchandmarkets.com/ the value of the South African sports and energy market is valued at over eleven billion rands per annum, which is expected to show double-digit CAGR in the next three years.
The energy and sports drinks market is extremely competitive and highly valuable. Breaking into such a market requires substantial investment into diverse communication strategies and media channels.
Leveraging the salient attributes and value OOH advertising delivers, such as high levels of reach and audience saturation, in a short time frame, aQuellé ViV through full-service agency Initiative Media opted to make use of our expansive national network to launch their new range into the SA market.
The campaign focused on the key metros, namely the City of Johannesburg, the city of Tshwane, Durban, and the City of Cape Town. Some of the insights guiding the media placement confirmed that 36% of consumers claim to regularly drink sports and energy drinks, with 22.4% of consumers stating that they consume such drinks weekly and 26.8% stating that they like to try such new drinks.
Through a host of spatial and consumer insights, we assisted aQuellé ViV communication strategy by selecting contextually relevant sites in proximity to a range of POI, including 36 gyms, 287 retail stores, 17 recreation centres, 87 education centres and 114 office parks. The outdoor format mix aimed to reach consumers with an affinity towards training, recreational sport and health consciousness. In addition, aiming to drive up the ROI, the network selected focused on areas with the highest concentration of distribution outlets.
The campaign will potentially reach 3.2 million consumers within the four metros, delivering an estimated average frequency of 20 and an impressive 63 million impressions, all at an attractive CPM of R4.39.
The campaign creative showcased the new range through colourful and engaging creative, highlighting different sports and athletes with a tag line, 'Live with More Viv'. The perfect solution for sports enthusiasts and people on the go.
Outdoor advertising lives in the public space, reaching millions of consumers daily, making it the ideal platform to tell diverse brand stories while connecting with contextually relevant consumers. We can improve audience targeting in the planning phase through our data and insight tools to align with the product and brand positioning and target audience. The role and value of outdoor advertising is evolving, led by data and insights. A prime and strategic platform for success, be it for product or brand launch, connecting brands and audiences on the path to purchase in a targeted, measurable and cost-effective way.
END