Red Devil revamps cans to fend off new entrant

Britvic has ditched the comic book-style devil from cans in favour of a more stylish, serious character to give the drink increased credibility with its target market of 16- to 25-year-olds.

According to Richard Collins, director of brand marketing at Britvic, the design is intended to generate 'much greater impact and confidence in the quality and effectiveness of the product'.

The revised image will appear on both single cans and multipacks and will be rolled out in stores from 7 June.

Coke is preparing to roll out its BPM stimulant drink, as exclusively revealed by Marketing (23 January 2003). Two variants, Hydrate and Energy, are planned, though Coke has yet to announce a launch date.

According to research company Zenith International, Red Devil is the third-ranked energy drink in the UK behind market leader Red Bull and V, and is continuing to enjoy strong growth.

The energy drinks sector is booming, with growth of 15% last year and a market value of almost £400m.

Red Bull's growth has slowed in the past year as competition has increased.

Recent entrants include the RAC's own-brand driving drink and music group Mean Fiddler's Sinergy.

Britvic acquired the UK rights to Red Devil in August 2002 and has used its strong distribution network in pubs, bars and clubs to build it into a major player. The drink contains taurine to alleviate tiredness and tar-gets clubbers, students, office workers and drivers.

This article was first published on Marketing