COVID-19 has had a varied effect on different sectors. Travel and tourism were completely grounded to a halt due to the lockdowns and travel bans; e-commerce and tech companies have seen an upswing in revenues and other sectors like fast-moving consumer goods have been impacted mildly or moderately.
The Seven-Up Bottling Company has been known for decades as a soft drinks manufacturer with several brands including Pepsi, 7UP, Mirinda and Mountain Dew. With the lockdown and restrictions on large gatherings and celebrations, beverage companies such as Seven-Up have been adversely affected. But this company disrupted the market last month with the launch of the 2Sure hand and surface sanitiser.
The company saw that there was a huge demand for hand sanitisers while demand for its existing products was on a decline. Meanwhile, Seven-Up had two things: access to water which is a component of hand sanitisers, and bottles – the packaging needed for the hand sanitisers.
For the packaging, the company stayed true to the Seven-Up brand colours and a beloved Nollywood actress and mum, Dakore Egbuson-Akande, was chosen as the face of the brand. The coming together of the Seven-Up and Dakore brands gave the 2Sure product instant brand recognition, nationwide.
To Seven-Up Bottling Company in Nigeria, COVID-19 has presented an opportunity for new product development. Companies that can find new uses for their products, brand extensions or diversification into new markets are those that will survive the aftermaths of the COVID-19 pandemic.
