Rough PR ride as Coca Cola takes over Innocent Smoothies
Earlier this week I was visiting a client and as we passed through the staff canteen I overheard two women heatedly discussing Innocent Smoothies and their perceived lack of innocence now Coca Cola has a majority stake in the British company.
“It’s not Innocent anymore – it is now made by Coke!” exclaimed one of the women with a tone of horror normally reserved for the moment you discover your first born is dating a politician. She snatched the distinctive Smoothie bottle from her friend and scrutinised it for evidence that it was now morally poisonous.
Of course it is likely she was responding to the news that Coca Cola is now a majority shareholder in the all natural hippy chic of the UK’s favourite smoothie makers. Why did the firm allow itself to be gulped down by a massive conglomerate like Coca Cola?
How could Adam Balon, Richard Reed and Jon Wright leave the ideal that saw them take their wholesome smoothies to a music festival in 1998 and launch a business when they proved so popular sell out to Coke?
Well, the marketplace has become a tough one and the simple truth is Coca Cola has offered some stability in a volatile world in an all too familiar tale, which is explored in detail in an excellent article in The Sunday Times
What is unmistakeable is the subtle and far from fatal damage that has been done to the Innocent brand. So successfully had the brand marketed its alternative image that even as a £100 million plus business its consumers liked to think it was more of small and local affair. Contrast this to Coco Cola’s perceived approach to business and it is little wonder that assurances that the Innocent team remain in charge has been lost in translation.
Simply put, Innocent has lost its innocence. The brand will still flourish, not least with Coca Cola’s investment and marketing savvy, but plenty of people will stop buying Innocent Smoothies having lost faith with what the brand stood for. Locally produced or suppliers seen as small and niche will attract these consumers.