How to become a love brand, Capri-Sun?

The market for fruit juice beverages in Germany is hard to conquer. This results in particular challenges in brand management and communication. Julia Straschil, Global Brand Director Capri-Sun, and Christoph Everke, Managing Partner Serviceplan Campaign in Munich, explain how they made the iconic brand fit for the future.

In 2018, Capri-Sun gave itself a completely new brand identity. What were the strategic considerations behind it, and how did you implement it communicatively?

Julia Straschil:  Capri-Sun has been around since 1969 and was already internationally distributed as a genuine love brand, but pursued a more regionally oriented strategy. As part of the centralisation of brand management, our objective was to create a contemporary, uniform brand identity that would delight our big and small fans in over 100 countries. At the same time, the new brand identity and the introduction of our animated brand ambassador, “Sunny,” should translate our brand assets into “great taste, practical bag, and carefree fun” in design and communication.

Christoph Everke: We have consistently occupied the brand and turned its iconic appearance—the pouch—into a hero and an authentic brand personality. It allows us to communicate systematically, always from within the brand, and always unmistakably.

And has the new marketing strategy paid off?

Julia Straschil: The new brand image with a refreshed portfolio, innovation, design, media, and communication strategy has achieved and is still achieving remarkable results. We saw significant growth in KPIs, such as revenue, brand recognition, brand awareness, brand love, and other image items. With the strict usage of our “Sunny” brand ambassador, we can work without external affiliations and regional self-productions, which helps us avoid additional costs for media production.

Christoph Everke: With our marketing strategy, we have not only achieved the most prominent brand awareness ever measured for Capri-Sun, but we have also increased desirability and conveyed a great deal of fun. Of course, we are also very proud of this confirmation of success by winning the Effie Award with Capri-Sun. But the popularity of our “Sunny” character makes me almost even prouder, which is especially evident when you look at the incredible reactions from our customers.

A terrific start for “Sunny”. How was the communication further developed after the introduction, and what other plans are in the works?

Julia Straschil: In principle, we follow the rule of single-minded messaging across all media channels. Also, further technical development helps us follow trends. We use animations and new social media channels like TikTok to reach younger, more demanding audiences. We also bring the character to life both offline and online, from TV and digital environment to in-person.

Christoph Everke: Of course, we are constantly working on new stories and facets of the brand and our protagonist, “Sunny.” We are especially pleased with the growing number of moving image channels where he can fully express his strength and fun personality…