PRESS RELEASE

Despite a soft drinks market with weak development, Pepsi is growing dramatically in Sweden. The explanation is the consistent investment in sugar-free Pepsi Max, which grew a whopping 45% in the previous year. Pepsi is thus significantly closing in on its major competitor Coca-Cola. PepsiCo is now also showing off a new youth-driven brand platform that will pave the way for continued success in 2007.

- Many competitors cannibalize themselves by investing as much in regular soda as in diet soda. With Pepsi, we have chosen a different path by focusing completely on the sugar-free version Pepsi Max in recent years. Last year's sales figures prove that we are exactly right. Pepsi Max is gaining market share after market share, says Christina Hellbom, Commercial Marketing Director at Carlsberg, which distributes Pepsi in Sweden.

- I like to compare soda with chewing gum. Today, nobody wants to buy chewing gum with sugar and I am convinced that the soft drinks industry is heading in the same direction. It's obviously fun that our original product is also growing, but it's Pepsi Max we're putting all our resources into. Pepsi Max is growing incredibly fast and now Pepsi Max is even bigger than regular Pepsi. It is completely in line with our strategy, says Fredrik Hjalmers, marketing manager for Pepsi in Sweden.

The gap to the competitor is narrowing

In 2006, 8 million more liters of Pepsi Max were sold in Sweden compared to 2005. This corresponds to a volume growth of as much as 45%. Pepsi Regular also grew and increased by approx. 17%, despite a relatively weak development on the soft drinks market. In 2006, the market grew by approx. 5% driven by sugar-free soft drinks.

Pepsi Max's share in light cola increased during the year from 27.2 to 31.7% and the gap to major competitor Coca Cola narrowed considerably. Last year the gap to Coca-Cola Light was 19.1 percentage points, by the end of 2006 it had narrowed to 11.4 percentage points. (Source: A.C. Nielsen R.12 tom. v.7)

Max Your Life - new brand platform

Pepsi Max is now investing heavily in order for the brilliant market development to continue. This spring, "Max Your Life", a new brand platform is launched in Sweden. The change marks a shift in Pepsi Max's communication with the target group. Now it is no longer large broad target groups that apply, but smaller segmented groups with different interests. The new platform is based on a comprehensive survey of young people's interests. The survey shows that young people are increasingly becoming individualists, and therefore, in the next six months, Pepsi will introduce about ten different design concepts aimed at different target groups.

With the target group's own interests in focus, PepsiCo has chosen to focus on various trends relevant to young people. Rock music, Cars, Hip Hop, fashion, football and DJ culture are the platforms that will characterize Pepsi Max's communication in Sweden.

- We will use the concept in all our communication with consumers and we will start with the design of the bottle labels. In 2007, a range of different Pepsi and Pepsi Max bottles with eight different expressions are introduced. The goal is to create individual loyalty and a more mutual dialogue by meeting different groups on their own home turf, says Fredrik Hjalmers.

During the year, the new brand platform will permeate several major investments from PepsiCo in Sweden.

Source:

https://news.cision.com/se/carlsberg-sverige/r/sockerfri-satsning-baddar-for-framgang--pepsi-max-vaxer-sa-det-knakar-och-driver-laskmarknaden,c266876