White Research supports UNESDA Soft Drinks Europe’s new health and nutrition commitments digital campaign

By Arianna Rizzi, Associate Project Manager, White Research

Our Business Services team recently helped UNESDA Soft Drinks Europe, the EU Brussels-based association representing the European soft drinks industry, to execute a high-intensity digital campaign to promote its new health and nutrition commitments that are in line with the EU’s increased health and sustainability standards. The campaign that was launched on UNESDA’s 63^rd anniversary (29 June 2021), and continued throughout the summer, was a great success. Through the association’s social media channels and website, we not only managed to reach and engage with a large audience, but we also communicated directly with UNESDA Soft Drinks Europe’s main target audience of EU policy makers and key stakeholders.

UNESDA Soft Drinks Europe and its members have been striving for healthier drink environments for several decades now. Their goal? To meet the changing consumer needs and promote healthier lifestyles by offering healthier drink options and supporting the moderate consumption of soft drinks. As a continuation of this journey that started over 20 years ago, UNESDA committed to a new series of voluntary pledges last June. For instance, UNESDA has vowed to reduce the average added sugars in beverages by an additional 10% between 2019 and 2025 across Europe.

In order to relay these messages to its key stakeholders and create momentum around this major announcement, our Business Services department designed and implemented a high-intensity and high-level social media campaign. More specifically, we generated content for UNESDA’s Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube channels as well as its website, for which we developed a specific campaign page. Besides providing strategic and project management support, our team also created campaign visuals, drafted social media messages as well as other outreach materials. White Research also produced an animated campaign video, with the support of external videographers.

Overall the campaign was a great success. UNESDA Soft Drinks Europe’s new health and nutrition commitments message not only generated more than 90,000 impressions on Twitter and LinkedIn. It also drew more than 8,000 people to its website. Many of them are important stakeholders from EU institutions and the European food and drink sector, who are currently debating the future of the EU food industry through initiatives such as the EU Farm to Fork Strategy and the consultation on dietary sugars launched by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).