The Marketing Behind Coke Zero Sugar



Coca-Cola announced in 2016 that they would soon be killing off Coke Zero in favor of the new creation of Coke Zero Sugar that would first be tested in other countries, like Great Britain and Mexico, then hit the US in July of 2017. Coke Zero Sugar is intended to taste more like regular Coca Cola with a “new and improved recipe”. This news came as a shock to many because the beloved Coke Zero had only been increasing in sales since its 2005 debut. People were confused why they would riskily decide to do a complete revamp of one of their most popular products. Many who had been loyal fans to this zero calorie diet drink were angry at the news because they were very skeptical that Coke Zero Sugar would taste “even better” than Coke Zero.

        

So, what’s the difference?




They both have zero calories and sugar, and are both sweetened by aspartame and acesulfame K. Coca Cola says they only “tweaked the blend of natural flavors” so their reactions will be different and create a taste more natural to the original Coca Cola flavor. The ingredients on the label are still listed the exact same-so did the recipe really change?

One thing that did change was the design of the packaging. Coke Zero Sugar is designed with both red and black, unlike Coke Zero which was a solid black can. Coke Zero Sugar’s label is black with a stretched out red circle that is supposed to make the can look very similar to the regular Coca Cola.

The marketing behind Coke Zero Sugar


So, with a product that is so similar to Coke Zero, how did Coca Cola market this new soda to get their following to jump ship from their old diet cola to this new one? Well, basically the same. They have incorporated a lot of red into the advertisements and design in order to keep on-brand look of regular Coke. Their advertisements and overall marketing have the same Coke feel and look. Coke Zero Sugar is targeted to male millennials by calling it a zero calorie drink, not a diet drink which is normally associated with females. They are really trying to emphasize that this new product has zero sugars and calories with the “same taste”.


Coca Cola said that their reasoning behind the major change was because research showed that most people didn’t understand that Coke Zero didn’t have any sugars or calories, and they wanted to be specifically clear on what this beverage was made of.

Do they taste different?

Although I haven’t tasted the new Coke Zero Sugar I have read many reviews that it does in fact taste better than Coke Zero. People have said that is tastes more similarly to regular Coke with “less of an after taste” that Coke Zero had.

So, cheers to that!


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