Coca‑Cola Great Britain Launches Safe Driving Campaign
Coca‑Cola Great Britain will be rewarding drivers who choose not to drink on a night out with a "buy one, get one free" Coca‑Cola or diet Coke over the festive period.
Celebrating its second year, the Designated Driver campaign is part of Coca‑Cola Great Britain's pledge to promote the positive role that soft drinks can play as credible alternatives to alcohol.
The campaign will run from 1st December 2009 to 2nd January 2010 in over 8,000 bars nationwide, backed by an extensive multi million pound marketing programme as part of Coca‑Cola Great Britain's Christmas 'Gift of Giving' initiative.
The promotion will be launched through a national PR campaign with the Original Stig, aka Perry McCarthy. He'll be making pit stops at bars and clubs around the country where he'll be waving a green flag to get the safe drinking campaign on the road.
The PR activity will culminate in four live media events with Perry McCarthy on 1st and 2nd December and a far-reaching social media programme. The promotion will be supported with radio advertising, aimed at young adult drivers enjoying a night out, and will run during the first week of December and then again during Christmas and New Year. Materials will also appear in participating outlets from 1st December, including posters, table toppers, bar mats, window decals, staff badges and branded staff Santa hats.
All communication will drive people to a central Designated Driver website hosted on www.CokeZone.co.uk. The website will feature a 'Pub Finder' application, allowing consumers to type in their town or postcode to search for participating outlets.
Cathryn Sleight, Marketing Director at Coca‑Cola Great Britain, says it's all about rewarding responsible choices. "This is our way of saying thank you to those drivers who are sensible over Christmas and encourage them to be responsible when they get in their car at the end of a night. This is just one part of our Christmas 'Gift of Giving' campaign which is all about spreading festive cheer in a way only Coke can do."
Perry McCarthy, the British racing star behind the Original 'Stig' visor, is backing the move by Coca‑Cola Great Britain. "Drivers need to take responsibility for their safety on the roads and this is never more important than over Christmas. It's great to be part of a campaign that rewards designated drivers and I hope it'll encourage more people to take safe driving seriously."
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "Our THINK! road safety advertising campaigns highlight the consequences of drink driving and we are pleased that Coca‑Cola is supporting this year's campaign by helping designated drivers stick to soft drinks. Our message is clear: don't drink and drive."
- ENDS -
For more information, images or interviews with The Original Stig, please contact the Coca‑Cola Great Britain press office: +44(0)20 8237 3782 or gbpressoffice@eur.ko.com.
Notes to editors:
The Designated Driver campaign forms part of Coca‑Cola Great Britain's pledge to promote the positive role that soft drinks can play as credible alternatives to alcohol. This year CCGB has also supported the Project 10 'don't let the good times go bad' social marketing campaign, encouraging consumers to have a soft drink between rounds on a night out. This activity is a key feature of Coca‑Cola Great Britain's overall commitment to responsible marketing following the launch of the company's Responsible Marketing Charter earlier this year
About Coca‑Cola
Coca‑Cola remains one of the most successful and innovative brands in the world today. On-going brand and product innovation continues to reinforce this position of leadership in the soft drinks category. In the latest 52 week period Coca‑Cola trade mark has had a fantastic year with retail value sales growing by 3.4% to £528.5 million.
The My Coke portfolio (which includes Coca‑Cola, Diet Coke and Coca‑Cola Zero) experienced retail sales of £991.5 million in the same period with growth of 2.1% in value and 3.1% in volume versus the previous year. Diet Coke sales stand at £404 million with growth of 1.1% versus last year. Meanwhile, Coca‑Cola Zero, which has been hailed as the biggest NPD launch in over 20 years, is now worth £58.4m up 2.4% on last year. (Nielsen Total Coverage 52 w.e 29.08.09).
Performance in the 'year to date' 2009 is even stronger with 'My Coke' growing at 3.3% in value, Coca‑Cola +4.2%, Diet Coke +2.5% and Coca‑Cola Zero showing a very strong 6.0% value growth versus last year (Nielsen Total Coverage YTD 29.08.09).
