Helen Hewlett - Coca Cola Europacific Partners

For Helen Hewlett, Senior Insights Manager for the Away From Home channel at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP), brand growth starts with understanding where consumption is moving next. As consumer behaviour shifts across channels, occasions and lifestyles, the role of Insights is no longer simply to explain what happened yesterday. It is to help the business anticipate where future opportunities lie, distinguish meaningful trends from short-term noise, and translate growing amounts of data into clear commercial action.

From identifying new consumption occasions to navigating health trends and AI, Helen explains why the future of brand growth increasingly belongs to businesses that understand not only consumers, but the changing environments in which they make choices.

Brand Growth starts with finding New Occasions

As the Away From Home Insights lead, Helen's role spans everything outside traditional grocery retail, including convenience, food-to-go, pubs, restaurants, leisure venues and stadia. That broad perspective allows her team to identify where consumption is shifting and where the next growth opportunities are emerging.

Rather than simply trying to increase existing consumption, Helen believes growth increasingly comes from identifying new occasions and adapting to changing consumer behaviour. "We're seeing a big move of soft drink occasions from out of home into the home," she explains. "People are moving get-togethers back into the home, so we've seen a big jump in multi-pack cans. If you look at the price difference at the moment, that's not really surprising."

The challenge therefore isn't only finding growing occasions, but also strengthening those that are under pressure. Lunch is a clear example. Across the market, more consumers are bringing packed lunches to work rather than buying food on the go. "Lunch occasions are really dropping," Helen says. "We need to work out how we can grow those occasions again, but also make sure soft drinks are part of that basket."

Beyond traditional channels, entirely new consumption environments continue to emerge. Competitive socialising venues such as Flight Club and Electric Shuffle have become important growth channels as consumers increasingly seek experiences rather than simply food and drink. Coffee shops are also evolving into broader social destinations, extending opening hours and attracting younger consumers with iced coffees, matcha and other beverages that increasingly compete with traditional soft drinks. "I think growth comes from tapping into the right occasions, but also trying to build more occasions in the ones that are slowing down."

“I think growth comes from tapping into the right occasions, but also trying to build more occasions in the ones that are slowing down.”

Continiuous Innovation keeps Brand Relevant

While Coca-Cola's heritage brands remain incredibly strong, Helen believes innovation has become significantly more important than it was in the past. "I think consumers are just hungry for innovation," she says. "Innovation is becoming more and more an element of driving brand growth."

For Coca-Cola, innovation often comes through flavour extensions and limited editions. Although individual launches naturally experience an initial sales spike before stabilising, Helen sees their long-term value differently. "They encourage people to enter the brand, or to stay within the umbrella brand," she explains. "Someone might think, 'I've had enough of that flavour,' but then another new one comes along, and they want to try that one. Overall, the graph keeps moving upwards."

Recent collaborations with McDonald's and Nando's demonstrated how powerful this appetite for novelty can be, while brands like Monster illustrate the longer-term impact of maintaining a steady pipeline of innovation. "I think Monster has done a brilliant job of getting people excited about new flavours," Helen says. "They keep introducing new ones, retiring others, and people genuinely look forward to what's next."

“Flavour extensions and limited editions encourage people to enter the brand, or to stay within the umbrella brand.”

Health Trends are Reshaping the Category

Changing consumer lifestyles are also creating entirely new growth opportunities. Helen points to several long-term shifts that are beginning to reshape beverage consumption, including GLP-1 medications, greater moderation, increasing demand for functional drinks and continued growth of lower-sugar options. "We're seeing an even bigger shift towards our lighter variants and still drinks," she explains. "Water continues to grow, and functional drinks are growing really fast."

One example is Coca-Cola's new "00" variant, combining zero sugar with zero caffeine. Helen believes it responds directly to changing consumer needs. "It's still the cola taste people like, but without caffeine or calories," she says. "People can have it later in the evening, and I think it's going to do really well."

At the same time, Helen cautions against overreacting to every emerging trend. Functional drinks, for example, are receiving enormous attention despite still representing a relatively small part of the total market. "Everyone asks what we've got on functional drinks," she says. "Yes, it's a thing, but we also have to keep it in perspective." For Helen, that ability to separate genuine long-term opportunities from short-term hype is becoming one of the most valuable contributions an Insights team can make.

“Everyone asks what we've got on functional drinks. Yes, it's a thing, but we also have to keep it in perspective.”

From Reporting Data to Stewarding Knowledge

Perhaps the biggest transformation Helen sees is within the Insights profession itself. With AI making increasingly sophisticated analysis available to everyone, collecting and reporting data is no longer enough. Instead, insights professionals must become interpreters and advisors. "Everyone can now ask AI a question and get an answer," Helen explains. "Our role becomes validating whether that's actually the right answer."

She recently attended an industry forum where the phrase "knowledge steward" particularly resonated. "They described it as a tsunami of data that's coming because everyone can access it," she says. "Our job is to steer people through that, provide context, and keep everyone honest."

This evolution also changes what businesses expect from agencies and insight partners. Historical reporting is becoming less valuable than helping organisations understand what comes next. "We don't need more reporting," Helen explains. "We need thought leadership. What does GLP-1 actually mean? What does the cost-of-living crisis mean? What should we do about it? That's much more valuable."

"Everyone can now ask AI a question and get an answer. Our role becomes validating whether that's actually the right answer."

Building the Future through Strategic Partnerships

That strategic role extends beyond Coca-Cola itself. Helen increasingly sees major retailers turning to manufacturers for category leadership rather than simply product supply. Coca-Cola now regularly provides customers with broader category perspectives, shopper segmentation and recommendations for future growth, even in areas where the company doesn't yet have a major commercial presence. "It's about being seen as partners," she explains.

Looking ahead, Helen believes future growth will increasingly come through digital ecosystems as e-commerce, quick commerce, food aggregators, influencers and social commerce continue to reshape consumer behaviour.

At the same time, she believes brands must resist the temptation to chase every new trend. "Coca-Cola has always been about family and togetherness," Helen reflects. "You can't suddenly change decades of brand equity with the wind."

For her, sustainable brand growth will come from striking the right balance: continuously innovating, embracing new channels and evolving consumer needs, while staying true to the values that have built the brand over generations.

"Coca-Cola has always been about family and togetherness. You can't suddenly change decades of brand equity with the wind."