Top energy drink brand Rockstar Energy is deploying several of Ardagh Group’s innovative beverage end features in a new and exciting range of promotional cans.

As sponsors of summer rock music festival Rock am Ring, Rockstar is running a festival-branded ‘every beverage can wins’ promotion across its range of flavoured energy drinks.

Seeking to maximise customer appeal at point of sale, the company has chosen to combine Ardagh’s Coloured Shell, Coloured Tab and Coded Tab technologies, resulting in a set of cutting-edge designs that truly stand out from the crowd.

The 500ml environmentally-friendly aluminium cans come in three bold designs, incorporating Rock am Ring artwork with the glamour of Rockstar’s iconic branding. One of the designs is further enhanced by Ardagh’s unique Matte Impact finish, giving the can a distinctive look and feel that invites the customer to select it from among the standard glossy cans on the shelf.

At the beverage end, Ardagh’s value-adding design options are employed to dramatic effect. A yellow tab set against a black shell is a dynamic and eye-catching combination that brings a hard-rock edge to the energy drink experience.

These colour options highlight the bright tab against the dark shell, increasing customer awareness and excitement about the promotion.

It’s the tab that holds the key to Rockstar’s giveaway, so Ardagh’s Coded Tab technology is the central feature of the promotional design. A unique alphanumerical code is printed on the underside of every tab and is only revealed on opening the can, meaning that qualifying for a prize requires promotion participants to buy the product. As a result, sales are increased.

Not only does the design’s focus on the tab help to push sales by reminding consumers of the prize hidden beneath, customer loyalty is boosted by the fun and interactive moment of opening the can. As every can wins a prize – from pairs of sought-after Rock am Ring, Lollapalooza and Southside Festival tickets, to Rockstar merchandise and 2-for-1 leisure vouchers – the experience of buying and opening the product becomes associated with winning.

Rockstar Energy Brand Manager Nicole Matthias said, “We’re excited to be using Ardagh’s special technology to drive sales of our Rock am Ring promotional cans. The design aesthetics reinforce Rockstar’s powerful contemporary branding and give us an irresistible product at point of sale, while the ‘open-to-reveal’ prize-Coded Tabs bring a whole extra element of surprise and reward to the Rockstar Energy experience.”

Dirk Schwung, Sales Director of Ardagh Group’s European Metal Beverage division, said: “We are very pleased that Rockstar Energy is employing our custom packaging options to fantastic effect in their Rock am Ring promotion. Our visually attractive and interactive beverage end technologies will maximise customer engagement with the Rockstar Energy brand as they give away brilliant prizes, helping to drive strong cold beverage sales in the fast-approaching summer festival season.”