Marketing Analysis of Sprite Brand

The brand we have been assigned as part of this Marketing project is “Sprite”. “Sprite” is a colourless, caffeine free, lemon and lime flavoured soft drink made by The Coca-Cola Company. It was first developed in Germany in 1959 and was then released in United States in 1961 and was the main competitor to 7UP. It was first introduced in 1961 and has since become a world leading brand being sold in over 190 countries with over 25 different types of “Sprite” being sold worldwide. Flavours and products that include some of the following: “Sprite” Zero, “Sprite” Dry Lemon, “Sprite” on Fire, “Sprite” Cherry, “Sprite” Tropical, “Sprite” Fibre+. Some of the above flavours are only sold in certain countries. In Ireland “Sprite” was launched in Northern Ireland in 1994and reached the republic of Ireland in 2001.

Due to the increase of the health-conscious consumer, the drink was reformulated removing 30% of the sugar and replacing it with Stevia (the sweetener) in France in 2012. This led to the drink containing fewer calories. A further formula change happened in the UK in 2018. This formula replaces Stevia with Aspartame and Acesulfame K and has less sugar than before.

The Parent Company

The Coca-Cola company has been in business for 128 years and are growing and adapting every year. With innovative additions to their product range, more environmentally friendly packaging and beverages that will suit the more health conscious consumers. Coca-Cola is the world’s most omnipresent brand with over 1.9 billion servings being consumed per day. The Coca-Cola Company is one of the most recognisable brands the world over, with its signature red and white logo, intangible assets and strong brand name. It’s the front runner in the world of beverage companies running head and shoulders above their rivals. The parent company of our brand “Sprite” is The Coca-Cola Company. The Coca-Cola Company also have over 2,800 products available in over 200 countries. The original inventor and owner who created the Coca-Cola soda fountain was a Pharmacist named John S. Pemberton. The Company has changed hands many times with the selling price of the company increasing dramatically each time. For Example, in 1891 Asa Griggs Candler bought the company for the equivalent of $2,300 but in contrast to this in 1919 the company was sold for 25 million to a group of business men from Atlanta. Over the Years Coca-Cola have acquired many company’s and have expanded upon their product portfolio greatly. After 70 years of success with one brand (Coca-Cola), The Coca-Cola Company decided to expand and introduce some new products and flavours to their range. Fanta was introduced in the 1950s, before “Sprite” followed in 1961.

The Coca-Cola Company has spent years expanding not only your range but the countries they sell to. In 1993, they opened up new markets in India and the former East Germany. Coca-Cola’s expanded upon their growing list of brands through acquisitions. The Coca-Cola company has been in business for 128 years and are growing and adapting every year. With innovative additions to their product range, more environmentally friendly packaging and beverages that will suit the more health conscious consumers.

The Target Market

One of the major things to consider in marketing is to design the marketing strategies to recognise consumer’s attitudes, perceptions, requirements, preferences, decision making and price range. In the 1980s, Sprite’s original target market was teenagers as they launched several advertising campaigns targeted at teenagers. In 1987, marketing ads for the product were changed to cater to that demographic. "I Like the Sprite in You" was their first long running slogan. Many versions of the ad were made during that time. The slogan was used until the mid-90s. Although all of this has since changed it is important to not change the product too much as a lot of consumers have brand loyalty and are habitual consumers and have affiliations with the product and prefer to have a Sprite with their meals, at parties, etc. Sprite is now positioned as a product for people of all ages because in more recent years, Sprite added vitamins and minerals to their product making it not only a carbonated drink, but it is now also a nutritious drink for children, teenagers, young adults, aged people, etc. Although Sprite does mainly focus on people with age range of 12 to 35 because market research revealed this range of people are the major consumer groups but they also focus on people above this age range to make Sprite a product for all, as I mentioned above.

Recently, market research has shown that mostly young males drink the most soft drinks, therefore young males are apart of the main target market. Sprite can also help people who have stomach pain such as those caused by gassy build up. These types of people would also be apart of Sprite’s target market. Sprite is also inexpensive, so a large part of their target market would be students and people or families on a budget.

Marketing Mix of Sprite

Product

“Sprite” is differentiated immediately due to the fact that unlike most other soft drinks it is clear in colour. The packaging is mainly green yellow and blue. “Sprite” uses the green bottle, it is classic, modern and refreshing. The bottles defining shape makes it one of the most eye-catching packages on the market. “Sprite” is a common ingredient in mocktails due to its clear colour.

Price

Due to the overly saturated soft drink market, it doesn’t allow “Sprite” to use any other pricing strategies other than competitive pricing. Their pricing is that of which will sustain them in this crowded market. To stay in direct competition with its main competitor 7Up they price their products at a rate which beats them. They price their products which vary in size and flavour accordingly.

Place

“Sprite” was only available in 39 countries in 1967 with the aim of communicating Sprite’s unique freshness and taste. The distribution is “Sprite” is varied due to its mass production and wide availability. It’s now available through many channels so of which are, convenience stores, supermarkets and online.

Promotion

“Sprite” is mainly advertised through all forms of mainstream media and is generally targeted at the Youth. To try to grab the attention of all types of young people they’ve used brand ambassadors like NBA player Lebron James and Hip-Hop Star Missy Elliot in their Advertising campaigns. “Sprite” wishes to sustain their brand worldwide so they use Newspapers, Social Media and Television to promote their products.