Ask your parents what they were given when they were ill and the answer will often be a dry bit of toast and a glass of Lucozade. Lucozade has been around since 1927, when a pharmacist in Newcastle formulated the drink in order to help his children fight colds or the flu. What he designed was an easily digestible glucose drink that would enable his children to gain energy when they were too ill to want any food. By 1938, the brand was purchased by Beecham and began to be distributed nationwide. Soon, it became renowned as a reliable source of recovery

1. Lucozade
Ask your parents what they were given when they were ill and the answer will often be
a dry bit of toast and a glass of Lucozade. Lucozade has been around since 1927, when
a pharmacist in Newcastle formulated the drink in order to help his children fight colds
or the flu. What he designed was an easily digestible glucose drink that would enable
his children to gain energy when they were too ill to want any food. By 1938, the brand
was purchased by Beecham and began to be distributed nationwide. Soon, it became
renowned as a reliable source of recovery
The product saw its sales increase dramatically
in the 1950’s and 1960’s. However, by the 1970’s,
the sales of Lucozade were beginning to decline,
as the population of the UK became more health
conscious. The owners of Lucozade, Beecham,
needed to reflect on how to inject life into the
product. Its sales incorporated a large number
of people but they only tended to have the drink
when they were ill. It was the type of product
that a household would keep in the cupboard for
several months until someone was ill. Therefore,
in 1982, there was a major repositioning of the
brand – from a drink for the ill to a drink for the
healthy. Throughout the 1980’s, a significant
marketing campaign repositioned Lucozade
within the market. The strapline of “Aids Recovery”
was removed and “Replaces Lost Energy” took
its place. In essence, the new market for
© Copyright 2013 Tutor2u Limited
Lucozade became those young, healthy individuals
who were doing exercise and needed a drink to
boost their energy levels. New flavours were
introduced and the product was completely
re-packaged. The marketing campaign also
involved famous sports stars – most famously,
the Gold medal winning Olympic Decathlete,
Daly Thompson – who achieved a gold medal in
the 1980 and 1984 Olympics and also held the
world record for the event.
In 1992, the company launched “Lucozade
Sport” an isotonic drink designed to rehydrate an
athlete during physical activity. Once again, there
was the prominent use of leading sports stars in
the advertising campaign, such as Rugby’s Jonny
Wilkinson.
tutor2u

2. Lucozade
continued
By 2000, following two mergers, Lucozade
was owned by the pharmaceutical company,
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a leading market player,
that employs 99,000 employees across 100
countries globally.
Lucozade is a good example of Market
Development – using the Ansoff Matrix model.
The strategy of the business over recent
decades has been to take the product and find
new markets for it.
a reported £1.35 billion. GSK took the decision
to scale back its brands with a renewed focus
on its Pharmaceutical products. Suntory already
owns the drinks brand Orangina Schweppes.
Ribena and Lucozade had sales of £500 million
in 2012. The purchase of Ribena and Lucozade
pre-empted a possible auction of the brands with
private equity firms, such as Blackstone and Lion
Capital, as well as Iru-Bru maker AG Barr all
reported to be considering bids.
The latest development in Lucozade’s history
is that the business has been sold, along with
Ribena, to a Japanese firm called Suntory, for
© Copyright 2013 Tutor2u Limited
tutor2u