The £1.5 million campaign centres on a digital augmented reality fruit hunt, created to encourage families to flavour their water bottles with Robinsons, whenever, wherever.

The activation will inspire families to get active together this summer and ensure the Robinsons brand continues to be front of mind for shoppers across a key season for soft drinks.

Running from 1^st June until 2^nd September across Robinsons squash promotional packs, a QR code will feature on-pack, where shoppers can scan and be taken to an interactive map to find virtual fruit to fill a water bottle and collect prizes. The unmissable campaign will include in-store, out of home, point of sale, digital and social activations.

Ben Parker, GB Retail Commercial Director at Britvic, said: “Robinsons is preparing for its biggest summer to date with the launch of the Big Fruit Hunt campaign and Robinsons Ready to Drink as the official soft drinks partner for The Hundred cricket tournament. We can’t wait to be able to bring families together this summer and have fun. Forecasted to reach 90% of family households, the Big Fruit Hunt campaign will support in driving sales and reinforce the messaging that Robinsons livens up every water occasion with great taste and real fruit.”

To amplify the campaign even further, Robinsons will be partnering with Heart Radio. Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Zoe Hardman will be running a one-week on-air promotion – the live Big Fruit Hunt rooftop game and online competition, along with sponsored ads on weekend mornings during the summer. In addition, each month, Heart Radio listeners will be challenged to find hidden fruit on its social media channels and website, with the chance of winning a family day out, plus Robinsons squash supplies.

Robinsons core range is available across the grocery and convenience channels. Over 90,000 prizes will be up for grabs in the Big Fruit Hunt game, including bespoke Robinsons water bottles and outdoor activity kits.

The post Robinsons gets ready for summer with the Big Fruit Hunt first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

Despite cost pressures, the company is forecasting further progress over the year ahead.

The drinks giant reported pre-tax profits of £142.9 million for the year to September 30, up from £111.2 million the previous year.

Its first-half trading was hit hard by lockdowns, but the group saw a marked bounceback in the final six months as restrictions eased and hospitality reopened.

Following a 12% fall in interim sales, revenues ended the year 6.5% higher at constant exchange rates, at £1.4 billion.

The group said while out-of-home sales have not yet returned to pre-Covid trade, demand elsewhere is back to levels seen in 2019, such as for multi-pack drinks, thanks to the trend for staycationing over the summer.

Britvic said it is facing challenges from soaring costs and supply chain disruption, but said it has been able to successfully navigate the problems so far to keep its products on retailers’ shelves.

Recovery

Chief executive Simon Litherland said: “This year we have recovered strongly from the effects of the pandemic, with underlying revenue, margin and profit all in growth.

“While there are multiple operational headwinds leading to increased inflation, we are confident we will mitigate them through a combination of our agile and resilient supply chain, revenue management and cost-saving actions.

“In 2022 we anticipate making further progress with revenue, profit and margin ahead of 2021.”

The group said it has put in place contingency supply arrangements for certain key raw materials and ingredients, in case of severe supply disruption.

“Our significant investment in supply chain capability has provided a high level of operational resilience during even the most challenging times and gives us confidence we can meet future demand,” it added.

The group said that, across Great Britain, it has delivered growth across its brands, with its mainstream carbonated drinks – Pepsi Max, 7UP Free and Tango – having an “excellent year” and growing revenue and retail sales by value.

Its so-called socialising brands, such as J2O and Fruit Shoot, have also returned to growth as the on-trade and schools reopened, and as restrictions eased over the year.

Britvic said that, since the year-end, it has seen ongoing robust trading, with sales in the first six weeks ahead on both a one-year and two-year basis.

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