While Innocent Drinks’ ability to uphold its original entrepreneurial brand values is in question with Coca-Cola increasing its stake to almost 100%, Barclays are warning staff to adhere to new brand values in order to rebuild its reputation.
Since selling an 18% stake to Coca-Cola in 2009 Innocent, which was founded 13 years ago, has doubled in size, expanded its product range and launched internationally. A new CEO will be announced in April, with Innocent’s original founders, including Richard Reed, remaining on the executive committee.
Last year the brand vowed to ‘re-emphasise its entrepreneurial spirit’ through grass-roots marketing channels as it becomes more mainstream. However, at the other extreme, the company benefited from Coca-Cola’s 126 years of brand management experience, and marketing budget, becoming the official smoothie of the London 2012 Games as part of Coca-Cola’s Olympic Sponsorship.
Observers are divided as to the extent that further innovation and expansion of the Innocent brand will dilute its original values, with an example being, the company’s move into the ready-meal market.
Brand Consultant Andrew Marsden commented “Coke are used to managing brands – they are a fantastic brand management company and will be hoping that they have absorbed enough entrepreneurial spirit of the brand. At one level though, in every brand’s history they have gone from being entrepreneurial to being a brand with scale, and Coke has that brand management ability.”
Original founder Richard Reed commented “Coca Cola can help us with our aim of getting juices, smoothies and veg pots to more people in more places – and to protect our values as we expand. Both Innocent and Coca-Cola are 100% committed to protecting the Innocent brand and its values and everything we stand for remains as true as ever.”
Meanwhile, Barclays has created new brand values with the corporate purpose of ‘Helping people achieve their ambitions – in the right way’ as it attempts to re-build its reputation. Chief Executive Antony Jenkins is warning staff to adhere to them.
The bank’s Head of Brand, Reputation and Citizenship, David Wheldon, confirmed that marketers working at the bank will be judged on the extent to which they adapt to the approach, saying “Antony Jenkins has previously warned about financial services focusing on the short term at the detriment of the long term, and marketing has done pretty much the same.”
He added, “The new values demand a different, much more collaborative way of working, while thinking about ‘we’ rather than ‘me’, and that is not always everyone’s cup of tea. It will be pretty difficult for people to fake these values, and we will find out quickly if people aren’t robust enough to deal with it. We have got some great people, but great people who have had set ways of working, and those ways of working need to change.”
In other news, Barclays is set to announce a sponsorship deal with the British Olympic Association. It will be the first new brand to sign a sponsorship deal, giving the company marketing rights to Team GB until and during the 2016 Games in Rio.
