As the new managing director of marketing for Coca-Cola Canada, Lance Yuen is looking to inject some fizz into the flat Canadian soft drink market.

Yuen, who was appointed to his new post in December, comes to Toronto via Coca-Cola’s head office in Atlanta, Ga. He started as group manager for U.S. diet and adult brands – including Diet Coke, Diet Sprite, and Fresca – before graduating to the rank of assistant to the vice-president, North American marketing.

Yuen began his marketing career as a brand assistant with Procter & Gamble Canada, eventually working his way up to the role of brand manager. His experience in the Canadian packaged goods industry, he says, coupled with his tenure at Coca-Cola headquarters, has given him a singular preparation for his new role.

Still, he admits, there is much to learn, and plenty of room for growth.

‘Right now, I need to learn the business here in Canada, because we believe there’s unlimited opportunity here. Globally, Coca-Cola sells only one out of every 48 daily beverage servings. And Canadian soft drink consumption is only about half the U.S. average.’

Sales in the Canadian soft drink market have remained virtually unchanged since 1995, at $1.5 billion per year.

Yuen’s intimacy with the U.S. parent company – and his familiarity with its system – has fueled speculation that an increasing number of Coke’s Canadian marketing decisions could originate in the U.S., a trend that is becoming alarmingly familiar to many Canadian subsidiaries of U.S. companies.

But Yuen insists that is not the case. Instead, he maintains that Coca-Cola’s main objective is to continue to market its brands locally.

‘Coca-Cola’s focus on brands is not an approach to be more efficient, but to better connect with consumers locally,’ he says.

‘At a global level,’ he adds, ‘this is evidenced by dedicated marketing organizations leading the marketing efforts in over 100 countries, including Canada. And within Canada, we’re doing things locally, such as our recent campaign in Quebec (‘Quand c’est ok, c’est Coke’).’

That campaign was created by Cossette Communication Marketing, the agency that handles the advertising for Coca-Cola Canada’s core brands – Coca-Cola Classic and Diet Coke.

Yuen replaces Tracey Eckebrecht, the former vice-president, marketing, who was responsible for steering Coca-Cola Canada away from a segmented marketing strategy – dubbed ‘Lifestage’ – which organized agencies and initiatives around consumer demographics, rather than brands. Yuen says he intends to follow this lead, and pursue the course Eckebrecht began over two years ago.

‘We will certainly continue to focus on brands and consumers,’ he explains. ‘Consistent with the shift away from Lifestage marketing, we will continue to market our brands and build connections with consumers. Clearly, the growth we achieved in 1998 was much stronger versus the years we were chasing lifestyle marketing.’

A further example of Coke’s commitment to acting locally is demonstrated through a new media buying strategy that took hold late last year. Previously, Coca-Cola would purchase media spots through one of its agencies. But in 1997, Coca-Cola Enterprises, an anchor bottler in the U.S., acquired roughly 95% of the Canadian bottling operations. By the end of last year, Coke’s Canadian bottlers had begun to execute regional media buys themselves – the same system being followed in the U.S.

Still, despite its emulation of the parent company’s media buying strategy, Yuen maintains the Canadian office will not become a handmaiden to its parent in Atlanta.

‘I think the reason for having the marketing team in Toronto is to make the best division for business in Canada. The advantage of being linked to Atlanta, however, allows us to leverage their knowledge, their people, or their marketing resources as we see appropriate to accelerate the Canadian business. That varies by situation and brand.’

One of Yuen’s primary challenges will be to spearhead the Canadian launch of Dasani, Coca-Cola’s new line of bottled water. Coca-Cola is introducing the new brand to slake consumers’ increasing thirst for bottled water, a category that has steadily eaten into the market share of soft drinks. According to ACNielsen, Canadians spent $92.6 million on bottled water in 1998, up 22% from $75.9 million in 1997.

Yuen would not reveal when the product would launch this year, nor would he confirm whether Leo Burnett, the agency responsible for handling Coca-Cola’s non-core brands (such as those of the Minute Maid Company, Fruitopia, and Barq’s Root Beer), would be handed the Dasani account.