It seems a slightly odd time for Coca-Cola to launch a masterbrand campaign. Recent efforts have understandably focused on its sugar-free products, Diet and Zero. That is, after all, where the real growth lies.
Last year, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar sales soared an eye-watering 47.1% to £213.8m [Nielsen 52 w/e 29 December 2018]. Diet Coke climbed 10.8% to £465.6m. Classic Coke, on the other hand, only avoided a value decline thanks to tax-related price rises. In volume terms, it fell 6.4% to 395 million units. Although Coca-Cola has been clear there is still a place for the original, full-sugar recipe, it seemed to be very much taking a back seat.
Yet this week heralded a big-bang campaign for the entire brand that spans TV, out-of-home and digital, alongside experiential and PR elements. Although the individual variants aren’t singled out, the featured products – a glass bottle and can – look very much like the Classic. The campaign will reach across Europe and the featured song – the Eurovision-reminiscent La La La – is available to download on “global streaming platforms”. Half-hearted it is not.
The campaign speaks volumes about Coca-Cola’s vision for the future of Classic, in particular. Taste is very much the main message of the creative, depicted by a somewhat disturbing giant animated tongue.
There is also focus on nostalgia. Creators Wieden+Kennedy wanted to get across the idea that each sip evokes “fond memories from summer holidays to sporting events”. “Coca-Cola has the unique ability to evoke positive feelings and emotions associated with special memories and this campaign celebrates that,” says Walter Susini, Coca-Cola’s marketing director for Western Europe.
All this fits in perfectly with Coca-Cola’s strategy for Classic. It has accepted it will no longer be the main weapon in its arsenal – after all, its sales have long fallen short of diet variants. But it realises that, despite all the noise around sugar, consumers still have an emotional connection with the original variant. So even if it is no longer an everyday purchase, it still has a future. Coca-Cola sees it becoming more of an indulgent treat – something that is already happening to some extent, if you look at the upturn in more premium formats such as glass bottles (perhaps explaining why the glass format is shown in the creative).
Of course, there is another reason for all this focus on nostalgia that Coca-Cola may be less eager to acknowledge. It won’t be long before full-sugar Classic Coke is seen as slightly old-fashioned. Today’s kids are not only unlikely to remember Eurovision’s La La La, but they are more likely to look back fondly on the days they spent drinking Coke Zero – or even an organic kombucha.
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