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Articles
Juice makers savor summer
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by Greg Gatlin
Friday, June 28, 2002
Nantucket Nectars is juiced about life under new ownership.
Since Cadbury Schweppes Plc. bought the Cambridge company from Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. this spring, Nantucket's creative juices have started flowing again, says Kim Davis Newman, creative art director.
``People around here are staying late again, and the music's up loud,'' Newman said. ``There was a great boost of energy.''
That energy helped Nantucket rush three new seasonal juice drinks to market, she said. This week, Nantucket started shipping Watermelon Lemonade, Lemon Limeade and Maine Berry Punch to stores nationwide. The summer flavors will be available only through August.
The drinks will be backed by a marketing campaign that includes radio advertising and guerrilla marketing, including drink sampling in big cities. Newman suggested the speedy cycle - from idea to bottled product - might not have happened under Ocean Spray ownership. ``I guess I would just say things didn't happen as quickly as we were used to'' under Ocean Spray,'' she said.
Ocean Spray bought Nantucket Nectars in 1997 for $70 million, and unveiled a deal in March to sell it to Cadbury for an undisclosed sum. Nantucket, known for home-made, folksy ads featuring ``juice guys'' founders Tom Scott and Tom First, had a history of coming out with innovative drinks, Newman said.
In a brainstorming session last May, Newman and Chris Testa, vice president of marketing, came up with the idea of summer drinks inspired by life in Nantucket during the July Fourth holiday. The Fourth on the island features watermelon eating contests, blueberry-pie eating contests, puppet shows, even a giant water fight with local fire trucks. ``It's a really unique event,'' Newman said.
Labels on the new drinks depict some of those scenes. Newman said the seasonal launch may be the first of many.
``Keep your eyes open for a lot more to come,'' she said.
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