The Brief
As part of their key target of reducing their carbon footprint whilst continuing to offer great value product to their retail customers and end consumers, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) wanted to broaden the uptake of post-mix Schweppes Tonic in licensed on-trade outlets.
There are many benefits for on-trade outlets in adopting post-mix, including the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in the UK which will significantly increase the cost and complexity of drinks sold in glass bottles and other formats due to the need to collect and return the packaging to the suppliers.
The environmental benefits of adopting post-mix Schweppes for both retail customers and for CCEP are widespread, including a big reduction in packaging and waste. Post-mix is also faster to serve, offers a great tasting product and can be quickly and easily deployed in outlets that already have CCEP post-mix facilities.
Schweppes Tonic, which is owned by CCEP, is in the unique position of being able to be offered via post-mix as it uses existing CCEP post-mix technology and has a strong distribution network already in place.
To achieve this goal, it is important to understand the attitudes towards post-mix products amongst serving staff, managers and owners of outlets, as well as with the end consumers of tonic. This will allow CCEP to remove any barriers to uptake amongst outlets and increase purchase rates amongst end consumers.
PROJECT AIMS
Serendipity2 (S2) and CCEP devised a number of key aims for the project:
- Provide evidence to CCEP from outlet staff and end consumers to aid with the sale of post-mix Schweppes Tonic in licensed on-trade outlets.
- Understand whether serving tonic in bottle format compared to post-mix really matters to the end consumer.
- Explore the impact of adopting post-mix on brand perceptions and attitudes to brand and brand choice.
- Further explore the importance of a bottle on the “theatre” of ordering and receiving a drink such as a gin and tonic.
- Investigate the opinions of staff, managers and owner/operators on the change from bottled to post-mix.
- Gain feedback from end consumers and staff in a range of different outlets that are taking part in the trial.
- Conduct taste tests within a qualitative research environment to understand consumer reactions to post-mix Schweppes Tonic in relation to other products.
Our Approach
Serendipity2’s (S2’s) in house research team utilised a range of qualitative research techniques to cover all aspects of the brief.
Five in depth end-consumer focus groups were carried out in a pub setting, with focus group attendees representing different age groups, demographics and drink preferences. The focus groups provided a creative and dynamic environment ideal for discussing brand choice and acceptability issues, with a key emphasis on post-mix tonic perceptions.
Each of the focus groups included a blind taste test that pitched Schweppes Tonic post-mix against other bottled tonics that challenged any pre-conceptions respondents had about post-mix. Respondents were also pre-tasked to shoot in home video footage of preparing their favourite drink, as well as completing a drinks diary.
S2 also conducted in-outlet observations and interviews with serving staff and managers at a range of pubs across the UK. The interviews were recorded and photos of the outlets taken to conduct in-depth analysis afterwards. The interviews with the staff focussed on understanding their thoughts around the uptake of post-mix, examining and challenging any reservations on using and selling post-mix products, and taking their feedback on the reactions to post-mix of the customers they have served. This part of the work was important as the success of post-mix products can be impacted by pub serving staff.
S2 also undertook end-consumer intercepts with customers who had purchased a drink with tonic in it. Lasting approximately 5 minutes, the intercepts covered topics including brand preference, post-mix attitudes, the impact of post-mix on brand choice, the environmental benefits of post-mix and whether they were known, and preconceptions around taste and drink quality.
Finally, a large blind taste test was conducted in a major London pub with over 50 consumers. Customers were approached on the day in the pub in order to ensure that normal consumption habits were captured. To avoid bias, those that took part in the taste test did not know which brand the research was being conducted for until after they had taken part. Consumers could select the drink they wanted to taste (gin and tonic, vodka and tonic, etc.) and were presented with three identically presented drinks that were made using 3 different tonics, one of which was post-mix Schweppes Tonic. They were then asked a range of questions, including ranking the drinks by preference and whether they would order again.
The Result
Serendipity2 created a comprehensive report detailing the findings from the research, highlighting the opinions and views of consumers, serving staff and outlet managers.
The report also included a range of recommendations of how to increase the uptake of post-mix Schweppes Tonic in pubs and the sale of post-mix tonic to consumers. The recommendations covered a range of topics including how to address misconceptions around post-mix drinks with consumers, staff training, and how to ensure that serving staff are brand and product advocates.
The comprehensive report gave CCEP the tools it required to aid the sales process of post-mix to both outlets and end consumers. This is turn meant CCEP and their customers could benefit from the environmental benefits and cost savings that post-mix Schweppes Tonic offers.
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