To Your Health!

These days, marketers of nonalcoholic beverages are trumpeting the message of health. Low-calorie, low-carb, vitamin-enriched drinks rule the roost. This isn't simply good news for the Gatorades of the world, as the trend has opened up sales opportunities for companies that promote milk, tea, water and even soft drinks. (For more on the healthy food and beverage trend, see the Related Articles section below.)However, fitness is not the only news on the beverage front. Marketers also are plumbing the depths of the Hispanic and children's markets. Moreover, they're focused on designing P-O-P and packaging that will grow sales and satisfy both large and small retail accounts. They hope these changes will make life easier for consumers, too, both in-store and at home. Natural Brand BenefitsTo track any trend in the beverage industry, one can look to Pepsi and Coke (see Related Articles below). The giants have launched healthier alternatives to their flagship brands and have put a considerable P-O-P charge behind the drinks. Companies that manufacture and market low-carb products also are doing their best to make certain that diet- and health-conscious consumers get their message at retail through packaging and P-O-P materials. For example, Craig Stankevich, merchandising manager at South Beach Beverage Co. (SoBe) in Norwalk, Conn., notes, "Consumers' growing health consciousness has certainly influenced our merchandising." SoBe Lean P-O-P, he says, "now calls out key product benefits, including the fact that it contains Splenda, it has only one carb, and it has no sugar. SoBe did not do that a year ago.""Low-carb definitely is a trend of interest," adds Page Bowler, promotions manager for Snapple Beverage Corp., White Plains, N.Y. Since Snapple doesn't have to alter its product to promote that attribute, "you alter your message slightly to point it out," Bowler says, "and we do see the health trends impacting our sales -- Diet Snapple is doing extremely well." She adds that interactivity has become the watchword at the company. "Any piece we create has to not only capture the eye but interact with the consumer -- it has to spin, light up or provide dimensional texture. That's true of everything from pole toppers to cold-box decals. The improved cost-effectiveness of lenticular pieces is going to be increasing our use of that material."For example, the company's recent under-the-cap promotion included a cooler cling with a spinning cap attachment. "That approach helps us capture the consumers' eyes and doubles the communication impact by allowing them to interact with the piece," Bowler says. "The longer you can capture their attention with your P-O-P, the more impact it has." This approach has led Snapple to use more vacuum-forming to create dimension, which has been aided by its reducing cost. "Lights and motion are huge for us. They keep consumers engaged and involved with the brand longer."Such interaction is also a key merchandising ingredient at Hain Celestial Group, makers of Celestial Seasonings. "We realize that when our guidebooks are gone from the displays, the shipper goes out, too. That's why we ensure we direct consumers to the Web site to learn more," says Joan Boykin, director of marketing and public relations for the Boulder, Colo.-based company. "That's also why the July sweepstakes required daily re-registration," she says. "It keeps consumers interacting with us."There is a downside to interactivity, Bowler notes. "Some retailers are wary, because they have alarm systems that respond to movement or light," she says. "We have to test pieces in advance to ensure there will be no problems. If we receive resistance from the retailer, we can assure them there won't be a problem."The vitamin-enhanced drink category "is a strong niche right now," says Kevin Riter, senior marketing manager for the west retail group of Nestle Waters North America Inc., Brea, Calif., which bottles Perrier and other regional spring waters. "But bottled water was just as strong a niche 20 years ago," he adds. "So vitamin-enriched products and others like them have the potential to be big, big product segments down the road. We're definitely looking at these areas to expand, but we have nothing definite yet."Consumers in general seem to be responding to any product that can enhance their well-being, say marketers. "In the future, as we look to other categories, health and wellness will continue to be our platform," says Riter. SoBe's Stankevich agrees. "Consumers are more health-conscious overall, and whether they're talking about the benefits of vitamins and minerals or the benefits of low-carb beverages, we're talking to more savvy consumers."Energy drinks, by the way, are no longer for athletes only. Don Montuori, editor of Packaged Facts in Rockville, Md., says "Water and sport drinks companies are aiming their products at doing something for you more than replenishment," he says. "There is a benefit to drinking them, and they're positioning themselves as better for you than soda." A study produced by MarketResearch.com, the research arm of Packaged Facts, says "Most new products [in the sports- and energy-drink category] are aiming for consumers who need a boost of energy to get through work (or a night of drinking), not to get through a tough workout at the gym," according to the report.Fiji Water, Basalt, Colo., positions its product as pure, healthy water. "Health is a very important position for us, but we don't promote it in P-O-P materials specifically," explains Killeen Brettmann, director of marketing. Instead, the company promotes its purity with its clear bottle and product.That notwithstanding, Brettmann points out that a recent display replicating the bottle's outline was one of the company's most successful in-store merchandisers. "We've found that the key trend has been to increase the quality of our pieces," she explains. "They're more expensive, but we've found they're more cost-effective. We gain more permanent locations rather than doing in-and-out displays with a short window. Retailers are receptive to long-term placements for higher-level pieces."Tea marketers in particular are working to ensure they receive the benefit of the consumer's growing interest in healthy products. Teas long have been marketed as healthy alternatives, and now the market's interest seems to be coming to them rather than the other way around. "The obesity issue in this country has raised consumer demand for more nutritional, good-for-you food and beverage options," says Brian Orlando, senior brand manager for Lipton Iced Tea at the Pepsi-Lipton Partnership in New York. "Our goal is to close the gap on the awareness of the health benefits of tea and re-emphasize that tea is a better choice than other beverage options." He explains that "tea in general has low caffeine, so it has a head start relative to other products. But we already promote that, so we aren't putting a bigger emphasis on it." Instead, the company is promoting the good taste of tea within an overall healthy theme. Its latest campaign, the "Simple Steps" promotion, encourages healthier, more active lives by educating consumers about the health benefits of hiking. An interactive exhibit is traveling to 15 cities this summer to allow consumers to test their hiking skills. "The Simple Steps program is dedicated to helping Americans realize that there are easy, enjoyable activities we can incorporate into our routines, one step at a time, that will help us lead healthier, more active lives," says Ginny Blakewest, senior marketing director. A national on-pack sweepstakes highlights the program, offering a variety of hiking-related products won through under-the-cap or on-pack indicators. Supporting the program are shelf talkers, side stackers and other "traditional" P-O-P pieces."Our products have been and always will be healthful," says Hain Celestial Groups' Boykin. "The health benefits of tea are good for our business, and we've always promoted those benefits on our package and display headers, so we aren't changing our approach." However, the company typically uses a "soft approach" to those benefits, promoting tea's "goodness" in general, she notes. So, to tap into consumers' increasing interests in healthy products, the company recently introduced Zingerade, a ready-to-drink product that combines herb tea, fruit juices and lemonade. It began shipping in the Northeast this spring in limited distribution.Similarly, marketers of milk have long promoted the product's healthiness and use as an "energy drink," and they're taking advantage of the new interest. "Most of our messages have always been about being healthy and having strong bones and teeth and clear skin," says Julie Buric, senior director of promotions at the Milk Processor Education Program in Washington, D.C., which licenses the "Got Milk?" tag from the California Milk Processors Board. The group's latest campaign takes that healthy image a step further, based on research that indicates milk can help consumers lose weight. The "24/24 Milk Your Diet. Lose Weight" campaign, which ran in June, included a variety of P-O-P pieces, including a floor display complete with guidebooks created in part by Shape magazine to talk about the science of losing weight and how drinking 24 ounces of milk each day can help. The materials promote a special 24-ounce container that can be ordered through the guide or online. That program was followed in mid-July with a sweepstakes that gave away a Volkswagen car every weekday through mid-August to daily entrants at the company's Web site.New Flavors for New MarketsIn addition to healthy choices, the market also is continuing to accept new flavors of existing brands, notes Packaged Facts' Montuori. "It's a given that there will be more flavor introductions in the coming months," he says, "but the trend is moving more toward adding ingredients such as supplements and vitamins rather than new flavors in general."Part of that expansion derives from an interest in reaching new markets, he says. Gatorade has targeted the Hispanic market with a variety of new flavors, and hip-hop recording stars have introduced their own brands to target the urban-youth market. A number of companies have created smaller bottle sizes to produce kid-sized options."The kids' market definitely may have potential for us," says Hain Celestial's Boykin. "We're continuing to evaluate it."Utmost Brands Inc., New York, definitely has found a niche for more sophisticated flavors. The company began in 2003 offering four flavors of carbonated soda -- Lemon, Orange, Ginger Ale and Grapefruit -- and it added Grape this winter. "Many consumers are not into sweet sodas, and diet has an after-taste, so there was room in the middle," says Steve Hersh, president and founder. "Our timing was really good. 'Healthy' is a buzzword today, and our products play to that." The company in fact switched from high fructose corn syrup to cane sugar due to negative feedback from consumers about the former.Solving the Retail PuzzleMarketers of any product must struggle with retailer acceptance issues. Beverage marketers are no exception, but they do have an advantage: The current health trend provides a focal point for display and package design that retailers may find palatable and even desirable.Grocery stores are realizing the appeal of natural settings and are adapting their own aisles to offer a similar look, adds Reem Rahim, cofounder and vp of Numi Tea in Oakland. "They're putting in wooden floors and using other natural materials to enhance a 'marketplace' feel." Numi has aided this, through pieces such as an entire bamboo program it created for Greenlife Grocery, a small southeastern chain. The materials included a bamboo arch that stretched across the coffee and tea aisle. "Mainstream supermarkets are becoming more accepting of these displays because that's where the market is today," Rahim says. Numi has expanded its reach into large stores, including Safeway, Giant Eagle and Fred Meyer, she notes.Indeed, marketers report that retailers are receptive to display programs that promote healthy benefits in particular today. Cross-merchandising of healthy beverages with kettle chips and other healthy products has gained ground. Lipton is taking advantage of this by creating combined programs for its leaf and ready-to-drink brands, says Orlando. "Because we compete in both categories, we have an advantage in creating awareness for the two products combined. By merchandising them together, we get better brand presence in the store and create an easier connection between our ready-to-drink and leaf products."Natural food stores offer some potential, but getting in the door can be difficult, adds Utmost's Hersh. "Gourmet and health stores don't promote P-O-P pieces," he says. "They have a specific look for their stores, and they don't want to interfere with that." Don't Worry, Be FlexibleMarketers interviewed by P-O-P Times for this report agree that, as in other product categories, flexibility and ease of assembly are the keys to retailer acceptance today. "We're providing greater variety of sizes and shapes and headers than we've ever had to before," says Hain Celestials' Boykin. Compact sizes are best received, she adds, and low-maintenance is a must. Nestle Waters is working with retailers to cut labor expense by creating more display-ready shippers, Riter says. Its six- and 12-packs, for instance, are shipping without shrink wrap and being direct-shipped to individual stores. The company also is shipping bulk product with open tops so consumers can just pull out bottles without crews needing to cut open the boxes. Riter adds that for the company's 24-packs, "Pallet programs are where it's at, because they turn quickly. Retailers are not getting hung up with product. It's the best-selling format for us."Fiji Waters' Brettmann agrees. The company just designed a special rack to merchandise multi-packs because none of its existing displays worked effectively for that product.Hersh too has seen Utmost's market share grow thanks to its addition of a multi-pack container. "Rather than use liter bottles where the carbonation goes flat, we created a four-pack, and that got us into several accounts. They love it. It's a huge expense to print carriers at our volume, but they're growing in demand, which will lessen the cost per piece. And it's gaining us a lot of volume." The popularity of multi-packs has led Lipton to switch its packaging material for some products, Orlando notes. The company's iced-tea multi-packs now use plastic bottles rather than glass. "Plastic gives us lighter weight and no worries about breakage, and it works better for in-home usage," he explains.

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