Brand Story

Brand History

The Coca-Cola Company as an attempt to bridge the gap between soda pop and energy drinks released vault into the market in 2005. They referred to this as a hybrid energy soda with the slogan Drinks like a Soda, Kicks like an Energy Drink. They have since put out brand extensions including Vault Red Blitz and Vault Zero.

All three of these energy sodas have been sold along side pops such as Mt. Dew and Mello Yello. Vault offered something that other sodas did not, less carbonation and higher-octane levels. They are currently marketing Vault with the tagline 30% more of what you need to Get it Done and Then Some but this still has not increased Vaults 4% market share in Citrus Beverages.

When Vault first came out people gave it a shot but now it has dwindled and is virtually gone. It has been removed from coolers at Convenience Stores and from Soda Fountain machines around the nation. The only way you can really buy Vault anymore is if you get a 12 pack of it in the pop aisle at the grocery store.

Communication Assessment

In 2009 Vault tried to do a Dont Dew It campaign. For this they gave coupons that would allow people to get a free bottle of Vault with a purchase of any Mt. Dew. This was their attempt to start a taste test competition because they thought they would come out victorious against Mountain Dew. Unfortunately this c0ompetition did not really take place and not a lot of people utilized the coupons. They are constantly targeting young adults, specifically male. We have decided to keep this same target audience because it really does make the most sense for our brand.

In past advertising commercials for Vault they have tried to be different but their ads just turn out similar to everyone elses in their market. One thing they really have done a good job of is coming up with catchy tag lines that people will remember such as Get to it and Tastes like a soda, kicks like an energy drink. Unfortunately their catchy slogans do not produce a lot of word of mouth, they need the visual with it, just like Old Spice does.

In Vaults current market their main competition is Mountain Dew followed by Mello Yello. Mountain Dew holds 95% of the Citrus Soft Drink market share, and only 5% of the market share is split up amongst the rest of the competitors. In the entire soft drink industry Mountain Dew holds a 6.7 percent market share. Recently Mello Yello has taken Vaults spot in all fountain drink machines. Mountain Dew has the largest portion of the market share and has recently started doing a lot of advertising where they really let their consumers and loyal fans help with the campaigns. They are currently doing a lot more personalized advertising and really targeting the active-sports enthusiasts, which are similar people to our target audience.

SWOT

Strengths

Bold citrus flavor

Less carbonation than most sodas

High octane, much like energy drinks

Trends: Consumers drinking more energy drinks

Weaknesses

Ranked below Mt. Dew, Sprite and Mello Yello

Too much kick

Not as well known

Confusion whether it is an energy drink or a soda among consumers

Opportunities

Trends: Consumers taking advantages of discounts and coupons

Audience is mostly unaware and we can make the brand into what we want it to be

Strong citrus flavor that we can market

Three different flavors of Vault (Vault, Vault Zero, Vault Red Blitz)

Energy drink market share is increasing

Threats

Mt. Dew has a large portion of the market share that we want to tap into

Hard to find at convenience stores around the country

Negative press from the allegations that Vault Zero had the potential to form benzene

Soft Drink sales continue to decline

Because Mountain Dew has such a high market share it has been hard for Vault to break into the market. The strong citrus flavor and kick that Vault provides may be too much for people to want to drink it as their every day soda. We think this allows us a unique opportunity to break into the energy drink market and reposition ourselves there. We think this will be easy to do because a lot of consumers are unaware of our product and it allows us to break into a new market without a lot of backlash like we saw with Tropicana or The Gap. While the market share of carbonated soft drinks has been declining, the market share of energy drinks has been increasing.

Brand Evaluation

Brand Audit

We believe that Vault is being sold in the wrong market and that we should reposition it as an energy drink. We also believe that we should use more individualized advertising to really reach out to our target audience. In the past Vault has based their advertisements on catchy slogans and taglines such as Get to it but beyond that, consumers do not really remember details of the advertisements.

We believe that we should really reach out to consumers with our new advertising and more memorable commercials. We also need a lot more advertising. If you try and locate past advertising it is few and far between. We need to really up the ante. Along with this change we are going to repackage Vault in the traditional cans used for energy drinks.

Brand Pyramid

Brand Essence-The unique experience of Vault Energy is incomparable to any other liquid taste explosion.

Brand Strategy

Creative Brief

What do we want them to think?

We want them to think of Vault when they need that extra JOLT of energy. Even though we are currently going to market Vault as an energy drink, it is still unique because it is a hybrid energy soda drink. Its the Mt. Dew of energy drinks.

What is the advertising trying to achieve?

Our plan is to switch what market we are in, so we will be leaving the soda-pop industry and enter the energy drink category. We are hoping that this new category is a better fit for us because we heard that Vault has too much kick to be thought of as a regular soda.

Who are we talking to?

When Bart Atkins wakes up, he is ready to take on the world. His day is full of fun and social activities but he knows that when noon rolls around he will need a swift kick in the pants to help him get through his day in style. As he opens his fridge to grab a cold piece of pizza for breakfast, without hesitation he grabs a can of Vault Energy for later. Bart loves the single life, and finds excitement in everything he does, including his job at Pizza Hut.

What do they think now?

Most of our target market currently does not know about Vault. We are completely under their radar but ready to break through. The consumers that do know about us are confused as to if we are a soda or an energy drink. Those that have tried it think that it is too powerful for them to drink as an everyday soda. They use it more as an energy drink rather than a soda. We know that our target consumers love both soda and energy drinks. They are intrigued by new products and constantly want to try brand extensions or new product lines.

What do we want them to think?

We want them to grab for Vault Energy without giving it a second thought. We want Vault Energy to be their go-to drink and them to feel extremely loyal to the brand. We want them to think of Vault on the same level as Monster and Red Bull and well above Rockstar or Full Throttle.

What is the main idea we need to communicate?

Vault Energy is the swift kick in the pants that you sometimes need.

Whats the tone?

We want to get our message out in fun and innovative ways. Our advertising should always be an expression of our brand. As we go into the energy drink category, we want our brand to be viewed as an energizing and lively product. These are some of the benefits we think Vault Energy will provide and we want to show that in a tone that will stay true to the brand through the fonts we use, commercials we create, or print ads we design. All of it will be created with the Vault Energy brand in mind.

How do we know were right?

From our research we have found that Vault Energy Soda might be too strong and have too much kick to it. We think that repositioning the market we sell Vault in, will significantly increase how the consumers perceive Vault. Through our questioning we discovered that some consumers had heard of Vault but had no idea if it was a soda or an energy drink. The consumers that had not heard of Vault assumed it was an energy drink so we think that maybe this will be a more successful market for us.

Strategic Recommendation

As part of our new strategy, we have chosen five areas to focus on; the product, promotion, distribution channel, corporate culture, and creating a brand event. We think that these are the ideal areas to focus on in order to get the optimum result for this struggling brand. We will further explain out ideas for each of these areas below.

New Distribution Channels

First off, we think that Vault needs to be repositioned and should be sold along side the energy drinks rather than with the sodas where it used to be. We strongly believe that this is a positive switch for Vault Energy. In our research we learned that a lot of consumers thought Vault might be an energy drink and that the rush you got from Vault was too strong to make people want to drink it as a soda.

When people want that kick that Vault provides, they look to energy drinks. We think this simple change will be very beneficial to Vault Energy. Energy drinks is also the second fastest growing segment in the Bottled and Canned Beverage Segments, right behind flavored and enhanced water. It is up 25 percent where carbonated beverages have actually declined for the third year in a row.

Product

Since we have changed what section Vault Energy will be sold in, we are also planning on creating new packaging for it to be sold in. Instead of being sold in a plastic bottle or a small can, it will be sold in taller, 16oz cans. Along with this we will be rebranding Vault with a new logo. Instead of being known as Vault, it will be branded as Vault Energy. By doing this, we hope to really show people that this is an energy drink and help solidify its new position in the market. Along with this change in packaging will be a change in pricing to make it among the average price of energy drinks.

Promotion

We are going to start some new advertising for the product. We liked what we have seen some other companies doing with personal advertising and we are planning to do similar things to make people feel like we are really targeting them. We want to target men, ages 16-24 who are very active and are typically single or not yet married. We are going to incorporate this idea in both our TV and outdoor advertising.

We will also advertise at convenience stores on the glass of the coolers. After it comes out we will offer coupons to get them for a lower price for two weeks in hope that people will try it and enjoy it. With the new spike in social media we will also utilize sites such as Facebook and Twitter to get our upcoming promotions or ads out there. We already have 27 thousand followers on Facebook that we can initially use to spread the word and we are planning on getting a Twitter up and running within the month.

We also want to specifically do something with college campuses, since a lot of college students drink energy drinks regularly. To target them, we will create mini samples of Vault in little 1oz sample bottles. After we select specific colleges to target we will go there and hand out these samples to men on campus so they can try them. We will also send out free samples of this in the months leading up to the new product release.

We are also going to revamp our website to make it more fun and interactive through videos, JPGs of advertisements, our brand history, our mission and vision which are not yet listed. We will also include downloads, coupons and product information to make our website more useful to go to.

Create a Brand Event

Our other plan is to sponsor the Velocity Games because these kind of active action sports competitors are within our target market. We think that by co-sponsoring an event it will get us a lot of PR and word of mouth. We will have Vault available through the entire event and we will work hard to make an experience that people will remember.

Corporate Culture

The last area we will focus on will be our corporate culture. We want to create an environment and company that is exciting to work for. Employees are some of the most important customers and we need to have a conducive work atmosphere. Good PR and success begin from within. If our employees really care about the brand, they will pass it on through word of mouth.

We think all of these aspects will further the success of Vault and help to increase its sales as well as its visibility in the market. Vault has a lot of potential in the growing energy drink market but it was very lackluster in the carbonated soft drink category. These changes will be a vast improvement for the brand and we hope it will lead to many more customers.

Works Cited

http://adage.com/article/news/coke-s-vault-takes-pepsi-s-mtn-dew-coupon-giveaway/135104/

http://drinkvault.com/index.jsp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vault_(soft_drink)

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising/coke-brands-pre-game-push-83855

http://www.adweek.com/news/2007/mark-hall-hansens-naturalmonster-beverage-94464

http://adage.com/article/news/carbonated-soft-drink-sales-volume-continues-decline/135654/

http://adage.com/article/madisonvine-case-study/mtn-dew-banks-on-branded-entertainment/137086/

http://adage.com/article/news/highenergy-rivalry/103144/

http://www.yumsugar.com/Coca-Cola-Tries-Take-Mountain-Dew-New-Vault-Campaign-2912146

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/23802159/Mountain-Dew--Marketing

http://galenet.galegroup.com.proxy.lib.iastate.edu:2048/servlet/BCRC?vrsn=unknown&rcd=sic&locID=iastu_main&srchtp=ind&c=2&icd=2086&iType=sic&mode=i&ste=85&tbst=tsIS&cind=2086+-+Bottled+and+Canned+Soft+Drinks+and+Carbonated+Waters&tab=1024&docNum=I2501500080&bConts=16163

http://galenet.galegroup.com.proxy.lib.iastate.edu:2048/servlet/IOURL?locID=iastu_main&issn=0892-8274&issue=6&prod=BCRC&spage=36&volume=32&finalAuth=true

http://galenet.galegroup.com.proxy.lib.iastate.edu:2048/servlet/BCRC?vrsn=unknown&rcd=sic&locID=iastu_main&srchtp=ind&c=1&icd=2086&iType=sic&mode=i&ste=85&tbst=tsIS&cind=2086+-+Bottled+and+Canned+Soft+Drinks+and+Carbonated+Waters&tab=1024&docNum=I2501400040&bConts=16163

http://adage.com/article/news/jolt-wakes-keyed-category/116097/

http://adage.com/article/news/alcoholic-energy-drink-makers-charge-phusion-rack-sales/146613/

http://galenet.galegroup.com.proxy.lib.iastate.edu:2048/servlet/BCRC?vrsn=unknown&rcd=sic&locID=iastu_main&srchtp=ind&c=3&icd=2086&iType=sic&mode=i&ste=85&tbst=tsIS&cind=2086-Bottled+%26amp%3B+Canned+Soft+Drinks&tab=1024&docNum=I2501600016&bConts=16163

http://adage.com/article/special-report-digital-alist-2010/digital-alist-2010-mtn-dew-lets-skaters-control-marketing/142201/

http://adage.com/article/madisonvine-case-study/mtn-dew-banks-on-branded-entertainment/137086/

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Core Values:

Risk Taking, Endurance, Empowerment, Individuality, Competition, Commuication

Personality Traits:

Bold, Active, Competitive, Assertive, Sociable, Outgoing

Emotional Benefits:Powerful, Energized, Lively, Attentive, Confidence, Thirst Quenching

Product Attributes:Zing, Intensity, Extra Kick, Neon Green Color, High Octane, Low Carbonation, Smooth Taste

Functional Benefits:Lower Carbonation, Intense Taste, More Energy, Hydrating

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