Objectives

For 38 million gamers in the UK, energy drinks and gaming are closely intertwined. With adult males being the largest gaming group, the consumer is usually the shopper. And often, they are also the retailer!

Lucozade Energy therefore wanted to focus on getting shoppers and retailers excited about the partnership with Xbox and its recently launched game, Halo Infinite. Spearheaded by the iconic player-character Master Chief, the activation needed to drive relevancy in all spaces, beginning with digital platforms before spreading out across wholesale and then into retail.

The heart of the campaign had to appeal to gamer-shoppers’ highly competitive natures. The CTA ‘Unleash Your Inner Hero’ was designed to challenge them and enable Lucozade Energy to deliver against multiple objectives:

*Capitalise on the link between gaming and energy drinks by increasing the relevance of the Lucozade Energy brand within the gaming community as well as the mass market.

*Maximise awareness of the promotional mechanic and the prizes on offer, to drive shopper engagement up to 500K entries and ensure it outperforms the previous Tombraider gaming partnership: the ‘Larazade’ campaign.

*Drive promotional pack sales via the wholesale channel, ensuring independent retailers stock up and support high levels of distribution.

*Secure incremental grocery space with additional tactical walk-in displays, to encourage store managers to increase the amount of stock they buy in.

*Drive Lucozade Energy sales.

*Generate a positive total return on campaign investment.
 

How were the objectives met?

Campaign began on gamers’ home turf: Twitch; Fandom; Snapchat lens; Reddit; TikTok; influencers; X-Box and Lucozade socials. Complemented by experiential activations, 6-sheets and bus T-sides.

67M sleeved bottles promised buyers +2XP instant win and daily chance to win an Xbox. Wholesale, grocery and convenience touchpoints with full POS suites ensured an unmissable CTA and WIN messaging.

Campaign shortlisted for European and UK Sponsorship Awards:

• 37M media and 10M social media reach
• 580K promotion entries: +16% above forecast
• +37% entries vs ‘Larazade’ and +45% points of disruption
• Brand awareness up 4% to 18% (Jan-Aug), peaking at 22%.

Won Brand Campaign of the Year at 2023 Unitas Wholesale Awards.
Bestway depots with Wow POS showed +30% sales uplift May 22 vs April 21.

Merchandisers placed around 60 additional flatpacked tactical displays each, raising visibility throughout stores and convincing store managers to order up to 20 additional cases per SKU.

‘Amazing location, real hit with shoppers, standout display, not to mention the sales!’ ASDA General Store Manager.

Lucozade Energy promotional SKUs:
• +38% sales YOY with 2.4 x sales per point of distribution
• +0.3pp penetration YOY
• Best period in any store: +259% YOY
• Best week in any store: +894% YOY

‘The Wow Arch stayed for a record 11 weeks, refilled 2-3 times weekly. If a display is making money, we keep it.’ Tesco General Store Manager.

Campaign drove +£3.9M sales value over 15-week period vs 2021.
ROI on shopper marketing was an impressive 5.64:1.

Location: Gillingham, Kent, United Kingdom

Submitter: InContrast

Yes