Coke product suffers identity crisis

ATLANTA — What is Coke Zero lacking besides calories?

Effective marketing and strong sales.

Two months after Coca-Cola launched Coke Zero with high hopes, the drink has failed to find a significant following, according to some industry watchers. Part of the problem is that consumers don't know what the drink is.

To try to fix that, Coke next week is rolling out new commercials that explain Coke Zero has no calories.

On Thursday, Morgan Stanley analyst Bill Pecoriello put out a report that called initial sales "relatively weak." Pecoriello said part of the problem had been ads "which do not adequately communicate the benefits of the product."

Pecoriello cited scanner data showing that Coke Zero snagged just 0.8 percent of the carbonated soft drink market in supermarkets through July 10. Pecoriello doesn't expect that number, which has fallen short of his original projections, to improve significantly when the early August numbers are released.

Coke spokesman Scott Williamson, however, said the product "has met or exceeded" the company's expectations so far.

The company has a lot riding on Coke Zero. The company needs to come up with new carbonated drinks that appeal to consumers, who are increasingly giving up sugary drinks. Diet soda, unlike regular soft drinks, is still a growing market segment.

With much fanfare last year, the company launched C2, a reduced-calorie drink that flopped.

Coke Zero was designed to taste more like regular Coke and appeal to consumers who are cutting back on regular soft drinks but don't like traditional diet drinks. Because the company was trying to stay away from diet marketing, it created commercials that didn't mention the word diet or even calories.

The Coke Zero commercial is a remake of the company's popular 1971 ad "I'd like to buy the world a Coke," which was filmed on a hilltop. The remake features singer G. Love and the tag line "Everybody Chill."

The vague marketing, however, may have backfired.

"Coke sought to attract Coke Classic users looking for a diet product other than Diet Coke and to minimize cannibalization of Diet Coke," said John Sicher, editor and publisher of Beverage Digest.

"Zero was positioned as not simply another diet cola but as a no-calorie alternative to Coke Classic. That makes sense, but I think they undercommunicated the product's attributes to consumers, and it is good they are tweaking the marketing and advertising," Sicher added.

The existing Coke Zero marketing has not gotten through to Atlantan Jackie Hart, who was shopping at an Atlanta Publix on Thursday. When the 42-year-old mother was asked about the new drink, she responded, "What is it? No carbs?"

Another problem for Coke Zero is that there are a lot of other new diet soda products out there. At the Publix where Hart shops, Coke Zero was stacked next to Diet Coke with Splenda and in front of C2.

Caroline Wilbert writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.