BIG Cola and AJE Think BIG at Global Soft Drinks Congress

The presentation given by Jorge López Dóriga, Global Director of Marketing of AJE, at the 10th InnoBev Global Soft Drinks Congress in Lisbon (Portugal), was one of the highlights of the event, which brought together industry leaders, suppliers and analysts to gain strategic insights and hear about the latest trends in the sector.

Madrid, 10 April 2014. Jorge López Dóriga from AJE gave a thought-provoking and inspiring presentation at the Congress in which he shared AJE’s success story, telling the fascinating story of a young Latin American company that has reached the position of fourth largest carbonated soft drink producer in the world in less than 15 years.

Jorge captivated his audience with concrete examples of how AJE – and its leading BIG Cola brand – have taken the soft drinks markets in several Latin American and Asian countries by a storm, reaching out to new consumers in these emerging markets and inspiring them to Think BIG.

The latest BIG Cola campaigns - in particular “Win a Giraffe” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGtvDlbehr8&list=PLXxDhrFIfUoCcvqz2-nstweYHzEppbH1l) - which Jorge shared with the Congress participants, speak directly to the brand’s “Gen C” consumers who set today’s trends and care about Creation, Curation, Connection and Community. 72% of “Gen C” consumers value brands with originality, creativity and relevance that align with their own interests. This is precisely what BIG Cola has set out to do with its surprising communications that put consumers’ dreams at the centre of its promotions, allowing them for example to adopt a giraffe in Africa or win a trip to Barcelona to play at the emblematic Camp Nou stadium of FC Barcelona, one of the world’s best football teams.

In addition to very impactful marketing campaigns, AJE owes its success to its unique business model based on a strong commitment to "democratizing consumption,"

reaching out to new consumer groups and providing them with access to high quality products at fair prices. Jorge Lopez Dóriga underlined that "at AJE we focus on young people, from medium and lower socio-economic groups in emerging markets, who represent 70% of the population in these countries, offering great potential for growth”.

For example, after only four years of presence in Indonesia, BIG Cola has reached annual sales of over 400 million litres and 99% awareness amongst consumers, propelling the company to feature in February on the cover page of “Fortune” magazine Indonesia with the heading “The Next BIG Thing”.

About AJE

AJE is one of the largest multinational beverage companies, with presence in more than 20 countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa, and with 15,000 direct and indirect employees. Globally, AJE is the 10th largest soft drinks company in sales volume and the 4th largest producer of carbonated soft drinks (source: Euromonitor, 2011). With a strong commitment to "democratizing consumption," AJE reaches out to new consumer groups and provides them with access to high quality products at fair prices. In addition to its flagship brand, BIG Cola, AJE’s product portfolio is complemented with brands such as Cielo, Cifrut, Pulp, Sporade and Volt in the categories of water and juices, as well as hydrating and energy drinks. AJE’s vision is to be one of the top 20 multinational companies by the year 2020. For more information, please visit: www.ajegroup.com / www.facebook.com/global.bigcola

BIG Cola contact person for media enquiries:

Kati KaskealaCorporate Communications Director (+34) 630 77 34 81kati.kaskeala@ajegroup.com