NEWS RELEASE
Issue date: May 2016
AG BARR ‘REINVENTS WATER’ WITH NEW RUBICON SPRING
Soft drinks innovator AG Barr is reinventing water with new Rubicon Spring, a
range of products which are healthy like water, but big on taste!
Backed by a £2 million through-the-line marketing campaign including TV
advertising, the Rubicon Spring range combines sparkling spring water with fruit
juice and has 15 calories or less per bottle.
Each of the four full-on flavoured variants – Strawberry Kiwi, Lemon Lime, Orange
Mango and Black Cherry Raspberry – has no added sugar, contains vitamins
and green tea extract and is made with natural flavours and colours.
"We undertook our biggest ever research programme to fully understand the
key drivers behind changing attitudes towards health,” says Adrian Troy, AG
Barr’s Head of Marketing.
“The research highlighted an 18% growth in the number of carbonates shoppers
who are also buying water and a 19% rise in the number who only buy water*1.
Many of these consumers are primarily looking to reduce their sugar and calorie
intake.
What makes Rubicon Spring so exciting is that it appeals to consumers across
different categories. For those wanting a healthier alternative to a fizzy drink or
fruit drink, it has all of the low calorie and healthier benefits of spring water. And
for those coming from water or flavoured water where taste can often be bland
and disappointing, it has a big hit of Rubicon flavour."
Shoppers confirm that when they are looking for something healthier, they look
at the water fixture in the chiller. Therefore AG Barr recommend that Rubicon
Spring is stocked in the chiller cabinet, positioned between carbonates and
water.
Rubicon Spring has performed exceptionally well in consumer research with 74%
of all consumers saying they would buy it.*2
In addition to the national TV campaign, the £2 million media investment
comprises social media, weather activated outdoor adverts and a wideranging social media campaign, all backed by a suite of eye-catching in-store
POS.
Troy concludes: “Our consumer research has helped us to create a new range
of drinks that really deliver against what shoppers want – full-on flavour,
hydration and 15 calories or less per bottle.
Supported with heavyweight national advertising and underpinned with the
credibility of the Rubicon brand, this represents an unmissable sales opportunity
for retailers. It’s water….reinvented!”
Sources:
*1: Kantar Worldpanel, Jan 14 v Jan 16
*2: Toluna, Online Research, March 2016
ENDS
NOTE TO DESK
Barr Soft Drinks is the UK's leading independent manufacturer of branded soft drinks with an annual turnover of
over £261m. Established by Robert Barr in Falkirk in 1875, the company now produces a large range of soft drinks
including IRN-BRU - which is seen by many as part of the culture of the Scottish Nation (Scotland’s Other National
Drink) - Barr flavoured carbonates, Rubicon exotic juice drinks, KA, Strathmore Spring Water, Snapple
(under licence from Snapple Beverage Corp, a subsidiary of Dr Pepper Snapple Group), ROCKSTAR energy
drink (under license from Rockstar Inc USA) and Funkin Cocktail mixers. The company employs over 1000 people
across 9 sites in the UK.
All Barr packaging: cans, PET, glass and cartons are recyclable and carry the OPRL scheme which provides
consumers with consistent information about the recyclability of packaging. Barrs are also a funding partner of
‘Every Can Counts’ an ‘on the go’ recycling scheme for drinks cans which aims to raise awareness of the benefits
of recycling, promote behaviour change, create awareness of the value of cans and provide a method to collect
and recycle them.
The company is a partner of Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB) one of Scotland's leading environmental charities
committed to making Scotland clean, green and more sustainable. Barrs PET lightweighting programme has
removed the equivalent of 26.5 million 500ml plastic bottles from the market over the last 10 years. In support of
the UK Government's Public Health Responsibility Deal and the Scottish Gov'ts Supporting Healthy Choices
Framework we are taking a number of practical actions to help secure progress against a number of public health
objectives including a pledge to reduce the average calorific content per 100ml of our portfolio of soft drinks.
Information issued on behalf of AG Barr by MTJ Associates. For more details, please call
Martin Jackson, Claire Murgatroyd or Alyssa James on 01772 421442.