Making cans popular

Alex Bouwer, Nampak Bevcan sales and marketing manager, discusses the beverage can market in South Africa

The South African beverage can industry has shown tremendous growth in recent years – thanks to technical and packaging design innovations, coupled with effective marketing strategies.
Furthermore, the beverage can’s innovative printing techniques, larger apertures and exciting graphics invite the consumer to engage in a new way with cans, thus ensuring differentiation on the shelf. The fact is, the number of beverage packages passing through consumers’ hands, daily either at home, at work or at play has increased.
Research from ‘Edge Study 2011’ has shown that 21st century consumers are a whole lot smarter and technologically savvy. They know what they want, how their purchasing habits influence the economy and affect the environment. At an individual consumer level, there is a significant commitment to saving the planet for future generations.
Consumers appreciate that the can is easy to store and transport and has an environmentally friendly nature as it is 100 per cent recyclable. The 72 per cent recovery rate in South Africa is much higher than any other form of
beverage packaging.

The target market
Following extensive research on consumption of cans in major South African townships, Nampak Bevcan is driving activities on the trendy, social scene, to popularise the can and its benefits. Younger consumers prefer the can to other forms of beverage packaging, due to its affinity to stay cooler for longer, allowing it to retain its carbonation. This is perceived as great value for money, resulting in greater taste and stronger
refreshment.
The 440ml Castle and Black Label draught cans launched by South African breweries earlier this year are based on the same consumer driven demands for more beverages in cans. The 330ml and 440ml Castle Lite cans has been warmly welcomed by consumers as a refreshing and trendy form of beverage packaging, due to its innovative characteristics. These include the “ice cold blue lining” and “thermochromic snow castle” and funky Ice Cold campaign with rapper Vanilla Ice promoting the can. Such advancements increase the brand’s popularity, which then translates into an increase in sales.
Nampak Bevcan’s sales volumes have shown significant growth over the past 24 months. This growth can be attributed to many things such as the increasing preference for cans in the youth market, effective marketing and the growth in the South African beer sector.
The innovation around the slender (aka Sleek) can will soon put Nampak Bevcan at the forefront of the industry. This will afford old brands and products an opportunity to re-brand and increase their customer base. Bevcan is also continuously seeking ways to produce lightweight cans without compromising on quality. Equipment is constantly improved to meet demand. Lightweighting reduces plate thickness and therefore total metal utilised, thus reducing the impact on the environment.

A consumer campaign
As a tool to maintain the growth trend, Nampak Bevcan has adopted an extensive consumer facing marketing campaign to keep the CAN Do! brand at the top of consumers’ minds. A series of promotions have been launched: ‘I CAN Be Scene’ and ‘I CAN Be Famous’ with the aim of engaging directly with the market through distributors and the consumers themselves.
Over the past three years Bevcan’s consumer marketing campaign has gone a long way to changing  consumers’ perception of cans, firstly by educating on can benefits, secondly by creating positive associations with cans. This was achieved with a CSI campaign called ‘Every-Can-Counts’ and a focus on national pride during the 2010 Soccer World Cup with the “Can Do Nation” campaign. More recently, in 2012 Bevcan has linked the beverage can to all things cool, funky and trendy with a highly engaging TV advertisement, radio, billboards and a strong social media drive. Cans are fast becoming the preferred beverage packaging in the township youth market.
CAN Do! further supports various green campaigns locally and internationally. Here at home, The Green Expo is held annually in Johannesburg and Cape Town. The main objective of the Green Expo is to raise public awareness of the benefits of recycling and leading a greener lifestyle. CAN Do! sponsors the Speakers’ corner and engages the public in responsible dialogue to foster change.

Environmental awareness
Nampak and Collect-a-Can South Africa also join eight countries, from five continents, to commemorate international Canvironment Week every year in November. The aim of Canvironment Week is to educate consumers about one of the can’s greatest advantages, its sustainability. This worldwide initiative further encourages consumers to take action by changing their purchasing behaviour and promotes the recycling message.
Nampak Bevcan continuously seeks to make a positive contribution to society and public education is the focus area the business has adopted. During the 2011/2012 fiscal year, Nampak contributed over R8.5 million ($1m) to various educational programmes, assisted through the Every-Can-Counts initiative.
South African consumers are increasingly becoming environmentally conscious – and the educational programmes driven through various Nampak Bevcan campaigns have played a role in this awareness. These initiatives will soon make it second nature for individuals to commit to recycling.

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