NEWS: Travis Sennett Sully Ross launches new Yakult health drink

Britain’s burgeoning health-product market is set for a Japanese

invasion with the launch of Yakult, a fermented milk drink, backed by a

pounds 3 million campaign.

Travis Sennett Sully Ross is masterminding the attack, the first stage

of which began on Tuesday with TV and press teaser ads in London and the

South posing the question: ‘Why is everyone talking Yakult?’ Media is

being bought by CDP Media.

The product has been a feature of Japanese daily life for the past 60

years and is claimed to ease digestion by helping to maintain the

balance between good and harmful bacteria in the intestine.

Its appearance in supermarket chiller cabinets is the start of a

concerted effort by its Japanese manufacturer to establish the product,

which claims daily sales of 23 million in 14 countries, in the UK.

The drink, which contains a bacterium called lactobacillus casei

shirota, will be pitched directly against Nestle’s LC1, which was

launched in January and contains a culture said to stimulate the immune

system.

Peter Travis, the Travis Sennett managing director, said: ‘The sheer

weight of the campaign will make Yakult a very serious contender.’

Yakult’s UK debut follows more than six months of talks between the

company and Travis Sennett, whose Dentsu parent handles advertising in

Japan and all other key markets.

The campaign will evolve over two weeks into full-scale press and TV

advertising. Gill Sully, the agency’s creative director, devised the

ads. She said: ‘We have to show people that Yakult should be part of a

daily routine. It’s not just for health freaks.’

This article was first published on Campaign