The idea behind the sugar tax is simple: an increase in price will lead to a decrease in consumption, and healthier consumers as a result.
Yet while it works to an extent – a similar tax in Finland saw consumption fall around 3% over two years – this is a very simplified view.
Just because people are told something is bad for them or that it will cost more, that doesn’t mean they’re going to stop eating or drinking it.
Our research consistently shows the rise of a “polarised palette” among British consumers as they trade off extreme health with extreme pleasure.
Polls say they want healthier drinks, but how does that explain the fever around the ‘Freakshake’ – a 1,500 calorie deathwish?
This demonisation of sugar will push fizzy drinks to be perceived as special treats, which are far more about the emotional play and experience than anything else.
Brands in this space will move towards promoting indulgence and pleasure. You can see this in Coca-Cola’s repositioning to “taste the feeling” – taste, after all, is the main driver in food choices.
And Mars Food, the company behind Dolmio sauce, will surely ramp up associations with special family get-togethers once it starts labelling its high sugar products as foods that should only be eaten once a week.
We’ll see this manifest in the digital space with a greater focus on experiential storytelling. Knowing that the mood-enhancing ability of chocolate is its key selling point, Magnum encourages female “pleasure seekers” to indulge by visiting the Magnum Pleasure Store to decorate their perfect chocolate fix before posting a pic on Instagram.
Another route is to emphasise “real” ingredients, even if that means sugar. 1893 may sound like a craft lager, but it’s actually a new range of sodas from Pepsi that’s launching in the US. By going for the small-batch feel, and using kola nut extract and fair trade sugar, the company hopes to cater to a young, adventurous consumer in search of a high-end experience.
It’s also opening the Kola House in New York, a swanky bar serving cocktails mixed with the fizz – the perfect setting to share on social media.
And although pure fruit juice drinks are excluded from the sugar tax, new guidelines from Public Health England mean that smoothies can only count as one of your five-a-day as the average branded smoothie contains 100% of your RDA of sugar.
Innocent is one step ahead, and is holding the second iteration of its Innocent Unplugged festival next month. By associating itself with yoga, campfires and ‘digital detoxing’, the brand becomes synonymous with well-being.
What people won’t want to see is sugary drinks trying to position themselves as being good for you. Research consistently shows that simply calling something healthy changes the way people taste it; healthy actually tastes bad. Instead, there’s a greater opportunity for brands that embrace their indulgent nature.
Sugar may be bad for you, but sometimes it’s good to be bad.
By Jo Allison, behavioural expert, Canvas8