'Passion points' key to CSR push, says Britvic marketing director

By Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith, marketingmagazine.co.uk, Thursday, 19 January 2012 12:35PM

Jonathan Gatward, Britvic GB marketing director, has said the 'Transform your patch' joint marketing campaign with PepsiCo UK will help the companies brands connect with consumers' "passion points" and their interest in communal events.

Jonathan Gatward: Britvic GB marketing director

The multi-million pound CSR promotion, launched in partnership with environmental regeneration charity, Groundwork, aims to help people better use the outdoor spaces available to them for sport, activities and recreation.

The cross brand promotion, that will run across Britvic and PepsiCo's £2.4bn combined portfolio, from Pepsi and 7UP to J20, drives consumers to an online forum, www.transformyourpatch.com, to get involved with the campaign.

Speaking to Marketing, Gatward said the campaign commits to people's "passion points", to an event or a moment that offers consumers the opportunity to connect with their communities.

Gatward said Britvic has been developing programmes for local communities for a number of years, but has said that last year's Royal Wedding and the post-riot clean-up carried out by Londoners were two "key" events that helped Britvic understand how consumers respond to and involve themselves in communal events.

He said: "We know that big events drive the soft drinks category, such as Robinsons’ sponsorship of the Wimbledon tennis tournament each year, which gets a deeper level of connection with consumers."

He went on to explain that 70% of people believe that brands should be doing more for the community, and that Britvic and PepsiCo hope to leave a "positive and lasting legacy" with consumers by creating something the public can get involved with.

Gatward said the campaign will not be used as a platform to shift the positioning of any of Britvic's or PepsiCo's drinks, but that a long-term media partner for the nine-month campaign would be announced in due course, as will a number of celebrity brand ambassadors.

Targeting a wide range of consumers, from teenagers, to families with children, and adults, the marketing push allows consumers to lobby for 165 outdoor spaces across the UK in need of work to receive funding that will help make the spaces fit for communal use.

It is Britvic’s single largest marketing push for 2012.

Follow Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith on Twitter @LoullaMae_ES

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk