Beverage and confectionary behemoth, Cadbury Schweppes, has announced plans to sell its Europe Beverages business in a move to reduce Group debt and focus on brands and markets with greater growth potential. This division of the company is best known for the Schweppes – originally the first mass produced carbonated mineral water and today the label on a host of drinks and mixers. Internationally famous, Schweppes potential removal from UK ownership could signal the end to the distinctive British identity that the brand has subtly yet enduringly espoused.
Schweppes has used an understated hint of Britishness in its marketing (understatement being a typically British characteristic in itself) to great effect, especially in the US market. Note the British accent in its television advertising, along with wry, tongue-in-cheek British humour. The use of the slogan ‘Schweppervescence’, first used in Britain in the 1940s, is still used for the US market. Small, yet important touches of continuity support this, such as the Schweppers fountain placed in the centre of the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, London in 1851, which has become one of the brand's hallmarks and now appears on packaging. All of this, in the view of my US colleagues, communicates the notion that Schweppes is “that little bit better”.
The clever thing is that Schweppes uses this notion to successfully justify a higher price point – around 10% more than Canada Dry, its main competitor (Canada Dry is in fact another brand in the stable of Cadbury Schweppes, but only in Canada, Mexico, Syria, Hungary). Together they occupy most of the US market for tonic water and other mixers, yet the allusion to Britishness by Schweppes has enabled a premium price for extremely similar products (both pitched as relatively upper end brands). Indeed, at upscale metropolitan bars the brand is more likely to be found than its Canadian rival.
If Schweppes ultimately finds itself in the custody of a non-British corporation, might it lose this ingenious identity that has served it so well? Linking a brand to national character is nothing new and many corporations maintain this successfully with brands that to them are entirely foreign – think (German) DaimlerChrysler and (American) Chrysler or (British) InterContinental Hotels Group and (American) Holiday Inn. Yet the deliberate faintness of Britishness so intrinsic in this example could well be something that others cannot quite grasp. Of course they could be smart enough to realise this and ask for some help, but it is regrettable how often such errors of judgement are made.
