Online promotions boost beveraqe sales

Drug Store News, July 17, 2000 by Kevin O'Rourke

The greatest marketing machines in the real world are solidifying their places in the cyberworld. Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola are forming alliances with heavy-hitters of the Internet.

Coca-Cola and America Online have announced plans to form a $100-million alliance for advertising and promotions. The agreement will "activate advertising and promotional initiatives across grocery shelves and into cyberspace, according to Brand week.

Coca-Cola said it was in the "final stages" of forming strategic alliances with unnamed Internet companies.

Pepsi-Cola and Yahoo! announced a joint online and offline promotional program, Pepsi Stuff.com. The Pepsi Stuff.com program will enable consumers to earn digital awards and discounts online from promotional partners through an under-the-cap promotion scheduled to appear on 1.5 billion single-serve bottles of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi One, Mountain Dew, Diet Mountain Dew and Wild Cherry Pepsi. The five-month promotion is expected to launch in August 2000.

Through these Internet marketing agreements, drug stores will be able continue growing the carbonated beverage category.

According to ACNielsen data for the 52 weeks ended May 13, the regular carbonated beverage category experienced sales of $583.8 million in the drug channel.

For the 12 weeks ended May 13, sales of carbonated beverages in drug stores were up 21.5 percent to $186.2 million, making drug stores the fastest-growing mass channel tracked by ACNielsen for that period. During the same 12 weeks, sales in food stores increased just 3.7 percent to $2.65 billion, while convenience store sales increased just 3.5 percent to $1.11 billion. Sales in the mass merchandise channel increased only 1.6 percent to $226.9 million for the same period.

Connecting with consumers

Through Yahoo!, Pepsi's popular "Pepsi Stuff' promotion will become interactive, allowing consumers to collect points under the caps of 20-ounce and one-liter bottles of Pepsi and Mountain Dew products and quickly redeem their points online for digital and hard-good prizes, as well as discounts from leading manufacturers and retailers. Pepsi Stuff.com also will feature auctions of rare items from Pepsi and its pro. motional partners.

Pepsi and Mountain Dew product bottles will have a "Pepsi Stuff.com, Powered by Yahoo!" logo on labels to alert consumers to the promotion. In exchange, Yahoo! is scheduled to receive logo placement on point-of-purchase materials that will be placed in about 50,00 retail stores nationwide.