Atlanta-based Coca-Cola, needing to boost soda sales amid global concerns about obesity and some missteps surrounding its support of a controversial nutritional group, unveiled in Paris on Tuesday a new marketing push that unites versions of its flagship soda under one campaign.
New Coke was introduced in 1985 with a new formula to replace Coca-Cola, but the original formula was brought back as Coca-Cola Classic after customers complained about the switch
Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Life and Coke Zero will be sold under the new “Taste the Feeling” tagline and branding. The new moniker replaces the “Open Happiness” campaign that Coke has run since 2009.
Under the beverage giant's "One Brand" strategy, Coke will feature its sodas at the center of "authentic and real moments."
Coke is a powerhouse at selling and its familiar contour bottle, red cap and script logo can be seen in nearly every country on Earth.
Coke’s well-known pitches have included “Coke Is It,” the famed “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” ad from the 1970s, and the company’s marketing gurus are largely responsible for modern image of Santa Claus.
But Coca-Cola needs a sales lift. Soda sales were down 1 percent in North America in the third quarter, Coke reported in October. Meanwhile, sales of waters, teas and juices were up 7 percent.
Globally, Coke’s soda volume was up 1 percent, including a 1 percent jump for regular Coke and 8 percent growth for Coke Zero. Diet Coke fell 8 percent even with global sales included.
Coke also has been working to slash costs in Atlanta and elsewhere and retool its bottling network. Reworking its advertising is another way to address flagging sales.
“Every day, millions of people around the world reach for an ice cold Coca-Cola,” Marcos de Quinto, Coke’s chief marketing officer, said in a news release. “The new ‘One Brand’ approach will share the equity of Coca-Cola, across all Coca-Cola Trademark products, reinforcing our commitment to offer consumers choice with more clarity. This is a powerful investment behind all Coca-Cola products, showing how everyone can enjoy the specialness of an ice-cold Coca-Cola, with or without calories, with or without caffeine.”
Coke said it will unveil 10 TV ads, more than 100 campaign images, new music and new digital interactive components. Four ad agencies — Mercado-McCann, Sra. Rushmore, Santo, and Oglivy & Mather New York – created the TV spots.
“There is nothing quite like the taste of an ice-cold Coca-Cola,” Rodolfo Echeverria, Coke vice president of global creative, connections and digital, said in the release. “The campaign creative was designed to celebrate the notion that the simple pleasure of drinking an ice-cold Coca-Cola makes any moment more special. The universal moments and storytelling depicted in the campaign were created to resonate with our consumers globally. The same images and television creative in Japan will also be seen in Italy, in Mexico and around the world.”
