JEDDAH, 30 October 2005 — A Japanese soft drink company is having problems establishing its products as a brand name in the Saudi market due to the domination of certain other brands. Otsuka Pharmaceutical Company sells health drinks and even though they have been in Saudi Arabia for 25 years they would like to expand their presence in the soft drink market.

“Our product is not a soft drink even though it is in the soft drink category,” said Shuichi Akazawa, chief of consumer products at Otsuka Company. The soft drink they want to market at mass is Pocari Sweat, a quick absorption easy drink of electrolyte concentration.

“Customers here, as in other countries, want a healthy image and are very health conscious especially among the women here,” he said to Arab News. The main problem they face is awareness of the product. When they introduced their product 25 years ago, they focused on businesses and industries that employ laborers working outdoors, selling them Pocari Sweat to effectively replenish their bodies with the minerals and electrolytes they need to prevent dehydration. At the time the market was not mature enough to widely distribute the drink, known as sport drink, but now the company want s to build brand awareness. “We have created brand development teams (BDT) not to act as salesmen but to send a message to our customers about the product through seminars and contacting health professionals and pharmacists,” said Akazawa.

The company is aiming for a broad customer base but their target is the young generation because compared to Japan where the birth rate is low, the rate here is booming.

The product will soon be available in supermarkets, hypermarkets and pharmacies.

“We are promoting a message of a healthy active lifestyle. We are planning to participate in school activities and sports events. We have already met with health club managers and pharmacists,” said Akazawa during his recent visit to Jeddah, speaking of his schedule with the company’s local BDT.

The company has branches and subsidiaries all over the world including the GCC countries and they plan to expand in the pan-Arab area, might even establish a factory some where in the region. The problem the company is facing in building brand awareness is entering the soft drink market.

“In other GCC countries like Dubai for example, there is free commerce and competitiveness so that advertisement is cheaper there and they allow more brands to enter,” said Akazawa.

In our supermarkets, usually one or two brands dominate the shelves. This not only affects the introduction of new products but it limits customers’ options. Akazawa is optimistic however because the health drinks market here is growing three times faster other drinks, according to their research, and there is more customer awareness of health products.

What remains to overcome is small groceries’ aversion to taking risks with new products, but the company can make arrangements to support them.