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Robinsons hire the VFX team from 'Gravity' to help their squash drinks take off

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Britvic soft drink makers 'Robinsons', have teamed up with Academy Award-winning visual effects wizards 'Framestore', to create a £5 million advertising campaign for their new Squash'd range of portable soft drinks. Framestore were the company behind the dazzling sci-fi blockbuster 'Gravity', which recently won big at the 2014 Academy Awards, and the campaign (which launched on Saturday) shows the product being tested out in zero gravity, tying neatly into the slogan; “Anywhere, everywhere.”

The ad is just one facet of the campaign, which will focus primarily on digital channels

In order to film the ad, a crew of 8 people was flown 35,000 feet in the air, before plummeting 24,000 feet to create temporary weightlessness, duplicating the effects felt by astronauts in space. In the so-called 'Vomit Comet', passengers have just 3 minutes of weightlessness, so the team had just this long to film a full water balloon being burst, and the Squash'd being added to the floating water droplets. The ad is just one facet of the campaign, which will focus primarily on digital channels such as YouTube, and outdoor digital ads such as panels on the tube. Robinsons are also working with a team of vloggers, who they have asked to find and document some “Extreme ways,” in which they would use the product.

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Britvic brand director Helen Gorman, hopes to pull in a new audience of squash drinkers with the campaign, and says the product is aimed towards “People who probably drank squash when they were little.” She believes tapping into this nostalgia will help the product appeal to “The working people of Britain,” who don't drink squash anymore, primarily because of the inconvenience of carrying a “Great big bottle to work.” She admits that customers might not be able to immediately ascertain exactly what a pack of Squash'd is, and believes the campaign will go some way towards demonstrating exactly how it works.

Robinsons is relying on its branding to keep close rivals such as 'Vimto' (who launched a similar product earlier in the year) at bay

Last week, it was announced that soft drink sales hit a record £10 billion in 2013, and it's estimated that the 'water enhancement' category of soft drinks will be worth as much as £200 million. Robinsons is relying on its branding to keep close rivals such as 'Vimto' (who launched a similar product earlier this year) at bay, and attain market leadership in that category, something Gorman believes will be helped by the “Exciting programme of activity” developing around the brand. Her ultimate goal, is for Britvic to be admired as the “Most creative, dynamic and admired soft drinks business in the world,” which she hopes to achieve through numerous innovations over the next five to seven years. Squash'd is the first such innovative product to emerge, and it is hoped the drink will create a fresh buzz in the sector. Gorman admits that squash has been “Quite a dull category for a long time,” and she feels Squash'd will be the product to “Bring excitement” to the table.

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Each pack of Squash'd can make up to 20 drinks and flavours initially available will be orange and peach, apple and blackcurrant, and summer fruits. The product is currently only available through Tesco and Asda, but will be rolled out throughout all major supermarkets from tomorrow.

Robinsons Squashd Official Website

Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer who has always enjoyed a nice cold glass of squash.

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