the coca cola zero story. just get it done
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An interview by Maarten Schafer and Anouk pappers with Regina Wurz-Janssens. [Published in CoolBrands, the Guru Book 2009] - [copyright: cool4ever]TRANSCRIPT
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CEO Muhtar Kent | Number of employees worldwide
90,500 | Company Revenue worldwide 2007 $28,857m |
Most relevant communication media TV | Main target
group of Coke zero 18-29 years; male | Claim Coke zero
Real taste, zero sugar | Slogan fits brand character Life as it
should be | Character Coke zero Masculine, urban, energetic,
a little rebellious, tongue in cheek, no-nonsense, edgy
Coolbrands: K
arin
& D
avid
in d
iscussio
n w
ith R
egin
a W
urz-J
anssens
A man can dream, can’t he?
Coca-Cola Zero was launched with a no-holds-barred 360-degree
communication campaign. Regular media, like print, TV and POS
materials in supermarkets, were back-upped by extensive sampling
and online promotion. Brand awareness was ensured by a looming
television presence, kicked off by a commercial that first aired in
Australia. It showed the epiphany of a man on a bus, who realises
that if a light Coke with real taste is possible, there’s no stopping the
good times from rolling. Weekends starting on Wednesday, maturing
without boredom or even waking up on a tropical island; life as it
should be.
The Zero-word was spread by almost unprecedented sampling as
well, with a whopping four million bottles distributed for free in
four weeks. The revolutionary beverage was handed out at basically
every place where the young males of the target group hang out;
car washes, video stores, supermarkets and on the streets. Against an
unmissable backdrop of massive retail displays, of course.
After the first wave of communication hit the real-taste aspect of
Coca-Cola Zero out of the park, the campaign extended into a second
stage that was all about life attitude. Under the banner of ‘Life As It
Should Be’ the brand urged young adults to see that life’s pleasures
come with responsibilities too. Responsibilities that can be twisted
to their own advantage, in order to create life as it could and should
be. This campaign was developed exclusively for Germany and
Scandinavia in 2006, but got so much buzz that was implemented in
other countries as well.
Carbonated copy
See a pattern emerging? Reproduction of ads and campaigns is a
very common practice with Coca-Cola, and it has no qualms talking
about it. Why invent the wheel twice? Regina adds: “It is the way to do
it. Cooperation between Coca-Cola divisions of different countries is
an automatism that seems to work without any problems.”
To add to the experience Coca-Cola developed an online race
game, where people registered to race each other in a lifelike
virtual environment. A second game followed hot on its heels, this
time themed around Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland. The
highly enticing ‘Soccer As It Should Be’ was a perfect tie-in with the
campaign, and even used the same characters as the commercials.
Again, the game was first launched in Germany and copied to several
other countries. Score? Score!
Popping the question
So far, so good. But did it really go over as smoothly as pictured here?
Regina: “The biggest challenge was the extremely short time available
for the decision-making process, preparation and implementation
of the launch. The launch was not added in the business plan yet,
when it became known that the introduction of Coke Zero was a big
success in Australia.”
Suffice to say, things went a little nuts at Coca-Cola HQ: After people
started thinking about launching Coca-Cola Zero in Germany in
March, a decision had to be made in April, followed by a GO in July.
Convincing everybody within Coca-Cola in such a short time was hard,
but not impossible. Naturally, the question on all lips was a logical
one: why launch a second light drink if there already is a successful
one? “Internally, all noses had to point in the same direction in order
for this to be a success,” Regina explains. “A conference was organised
where we took key Coca-Cola people and showed them the whole
program.” The rest is sparkling history.
Three’s company
In future the brand plans to bank on the valuable lessons that
Coca-Cola has learned, and tomorrow is all about strategically
building further on the foundation of knowledge. “We will develop
our understanding of how to further build and differentiate
Coca-Cola Regular, Light and Zero. We know now when and where
to communicate every single one of these,” Regina explains.
Coca-Cola Zero’s rise to the top of the beverage chain shows
enormous potential. Especially when considering that it took Coca-
Cola Light 35 years to get to where it is now. Soon, both drinks will
reign the roost in equal, supreme manner and divide the German
light-drink market amongst themselves. And if that doesn’t deserve a
toast, we don’t know what will.
Zero to hero
It doesn’t take a genius to see why Coca-Cola Zero was introduced.
Nowadays, sugar comes in many shapes and supersizes, putting
obesity at the number-one spot on the list of fatal diseases worldwide.
The female market was happily covered with Coca-Cola Light, but
that left millions of parched man’s men, who found that the taste
and image didn’t live up to the regular Coke. Sure, they could turn
to a sugar free soda, but wielding a can of light isn’t exactly the
pinnacle of manliness. In this day and age, where metro sexuality has
just disappeared from the rear-view mirror and health and weight
issues dictate magazine covers, the average male is at a loss where
quenching his thirst is concerned. Regarding the fact that 60 percent
of regular Coca-Cola gets consumed by men, it was time to heed their
call for a healthier alternative.
After launching Coca-Cola Zero in the USA, Australia was next. In Oz,
viewed by some as the last bastion of macho swagger, the brand
chose to go with a different approach than the American campaign.
Coca-Cola Zero focused on young male adults, and gave them the
drink they had been waiting for. Positioned directly opposed to its
billion-seller Coca-Cola Light, the überbrand shipped Coca-Cola Zero
in black, classy packaging to stress that there was nothing girlie about
this beverage. The slamming success down under made it easy for the
brand to decide on how to launch the product in Germany, France
and the UK. Real taste, zero sugar; four words every man longs to hear.
Unsurprisingly, the European launch was the most successful since
Coca-Cola Light swept the market.
The fit & the shameless
Coca-Cola Zero consciously steered away from the image of being
a light drink. This made it OK to drink it, without necessarily being
seen as a wimp by the boys. Now a funny thing happened on the way
to the counter: consumption charts show that Coca-Cola Zero is as
much of a hit among women as it is among men. About fifty percent
of total sales is racked up by female drinkers, although the drink
exclusively targets men. Luckily Coca-Cola Light wasn’t really fazed
by its masculine counterpart; its cannibalisation is only half of what
the brand expected it to be. Moreover, Coca-Cola Zero lighted a spark
within the whole category of fizzy drinks. As it turns out, Coca-Cola
Zero is a welcome addition to the fridge, a sugar free bonus after a
couple of servings of the real thing. Where Coca-Cola Light was mainly
consumed by men in the proverbial closet, Coca-Cola Zero could be
enjoyed out in the open.
“Everything is possible, in terms of where, when and what. Just get it done!”
Regina Wurz-Janssens’ story is one that suits the Coca-Cola
payoff ‘Life As It Should Be’. The Marketing Director is as refreshing
as a tall helping of her own brand: “Coca-Cola is
a brand of optimism and possibilities. Everything is possible,
in terms of where, when and what.
Every employee is encouraged to come up with ideas
without constraints. Just get it done!”
Yes ma’am!
222
Coca-Cola had always placed a premium on engagement in football. With the European football championship approaching fast, Coca-Cola and MediaCom decided to take the usual football activation to a whole new level. As part of the continuing campaign to convert young males to Coke Zero, gaming was chosen as the strategic central element for the Euro 2008 Coke Zero communication. The focal point of the campaign was an elaborate proprietary online game. Here the gamers could win tickets to the already sold-out Euro 2008. The media campaign had two main goals: maximise the number of gamers and registrations on the Coke Zero gaming site, and maximise the brand engagement through the longest possible site length of stay on the site. The results were impressive, generating almost 2 million visits to the cokezerogame.de with an average length of stay - pure brand engagement time - of almost 8 minutes. During and after the European Cup, Coke Zero sales continue to soar.