based on Nielsen RMS data for the Soft Drinks category for the MAT period ending 18.05.2019 for the Great Britain total retail market. Fuze Tea is a fusion of fruit flavours, botanicals, tea extracts and other ingredients to create a ‘fresh, contemporary tea taste’ and premium alternative to other iced teas. The brand is already established in 40 markets worldwide including the US and Australia. Coca-Cola is launching the first TV campaign for its iced drink Fuze Tea as it continues its push to diversify beyond fizzy drinks. It is the second UK bottled tea launch for CCEP in just over a year, after US brand Honest arrived in December 2016 to challenge Britvic’s Lipton. The ad shows the world freeze as a man takes a sip of a Fuze Tea in the middle of a busy street. The voiceover encourages consumers to pause when life gets hectic, ending with the tagline: “Serve yourself a little me-time”.

Over the course of its 136-year history, Coca-Cola has achieved near-total domination of the global soft drinks market, barring the odd hermit state of the likes of Cuba and North Korea.What we’ve been looking to do, is talk about the truth of fusion. When you bring contrasting things together, you create something better and unique, just like Fuze Tea,” Wheen adds. Fuze Tea contains between 14 and 19 calories per 100ml, depending on the flavor, and is sweetened with stevia glycosides. Containing around 4 grams sugar per 100ml, it will escape the UK’s soft drinks industry which applies to drinks with 5g/100ml and above. From a taste perspective, it is a sort of a new sensorial experience, which is very revitalising for consumers.”

The campaign is a result of a poll conducted by the brand that found four in 10 (44%) adults feel they rarely get any time alone and and when they do it lasts just 55 minutes –the least amount of time in Europe. In line with Coca-Cola’s sustainability targets for 2020, Fuze is made using 100% sustainably-sourced tea leaves. It is primarily sweetened with stevia and contains about 4g of sugar per 10oml and 14-19 calories. With a relatively undeveloped global marketplace in comparison to other soft drink sectors, Coke has pinpointed the iced tea category as a targeted area for rapid growth, which Wheen himself has already witnessed in his 15 years with the firm. It is now being launched across Western, Central and Eastern Europe this month as part of Coca-Cola’s strategy to offer consumers more choice.

Frequently Asked Questions About Fuze Tea and its Products in Great Britain

Fuze was initially launched in 2012 and achieved its status as one of Coca-Cola’s billion dollar brands in less than three years. Having recently launched a new, global marketing platform, ‘Made of Fusion’, Marketing Beat sat down with Coke’s senior director of brand strategy for tea, George Wheen, to discuss Fuze Tea’s long-term ambitions within the category. Consumer tastes are changing, and we know people are looking for a greater number of options and choice in their drinks,”​ he said. “The launch of Fuze Tea is a fantastic opportunity for our business to provide new, more sophisticated flavors to more people in more places.”​ Wheen believes so, pointing to the beverage’s unique fusion proposition as what sets it apart: “One of the reasons for Fuze Tea’s success has been the fact that we’ve been challenging the category which has been dominated by mono-flavoured teas, such as Lipton and Nestea. Nor does he shy away from the brand’s ambitions of building upon this success by diversifying and eventually becoming the category leader: “We’re looking to explore new avenues for growth. Our ambition really is to become the leading global tea brand.”

Launched in March this year, ‘Made of Fusion’ marks a complete 180 break with Fuze Tea’s previous marketing outlook. Wheen indicates that Made of Fusion will be shaping the brand’s strategic direction for several years to come: “It’s definitely long term, meaning three years plus. We’re looking to move from campaigns, which may have only been six months or a year in nature, to platforms on which we can build year on year, so that consumers have a consistent experience of what the brand is.” Building a brand into a major new player in an already established and somewhat crowded category would be a tall ask for anyone. But then of course Coke isn’t just anyone, and the tools it has at its disposal simply aren’t available to most other brands. The drink, which will launch simultaneously across Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe, is already established in 40 markets.Coca-Cola European Partners has announced the launch of the globally successful, premium iced tea brand Fuze Tea in GB – a fusion of the flavours of fruits, botanicals and tea, with two low sugar variants. We really think it’s something which will bring something new and motivating to consumers, but it’s also competitive in the marketplace. I think what the platform does is bring a natural halo to the brand. You’ve got markets like Japan, China and North America, which have very established iced tea categories, where we’ve got good, strong positions and we can see how the future of the category is very strong.” Research was conducted by Atomik Research among 2,002 UK Adults aged 18+. The research fieldwork took place between the 10th and the 13th of May 2019. Atomik Research is an independent creative market research agency that employs MRS-certified researchers and abides to MRS code. The launch marked “a fantastic opportunity to provide new, more sophisticated flavours to more people” said CCEP customer marketing director Simon Harrison.