Coca-Cola asks if new Zero Sugar is 'Best Coke Ever?' in multichannel push

Dive Brief:

Coca-Cola launched an integrated campaign to promote its new Coca-Cola Zero Sugar product, per details emailed to Marketing Dive. The "Best Coke Ever?" campaign runs across TV, streaming audio, local radio, out-of-home (OOH), in-store retail, online video, digital display, search and social media, along with Snapchat filters and an AR lens.
In addition to three 15-second TV spots created by agency Mercado McCann, the campaign includes sampling fridges that can be unlocked via QR code, a "Best of Harlem" block party on Sept. 12 and a heavy presence in college football, NASCAR, soccer and PGA games and events with both standard spots and customized units.
The "Best Coke Ever?" campaign utilizes a multichannel approach to promote the U.S. release of its new Zero Sugar recipe, which previously launched in Japan, Turkey, parts of Latin America and parts of Europe and grew 15% year-to-date, per the company's Q2 2021 earnings report.

Dive Insight:

As promised in its last earnings report, Coca-Cola has rolled out a multichannel marketing plan to support the update of its new Coca-Cola Zero Sugar recipe, which the company claims to bring the beverage closer to the taste of original Coca-Cola. The "Best Coke Ever?" tagline ties into the campaign's focus on driving consumers to taste the product and decide for themselves whether that's the case.

The campaign runs across a variety of tried-and-true channels, along with ones that saw increased investment — including OOH, local radio and experiential — as the economy began reopening and consumers returned to pre-pandemic activities, like commuting to work and attending in-person events. The spread of the COVID-19 delta variant, however, has complicated the recovery, causing the enactment of new mask mandates in some areas, the cancellation of some large-scale events and the postponement of back-to-the-office timelines for many businesses.

These changes could make some elements of Coca-Cola's new campaign less impactful or require alterations. Sampling fridges at spots that "represent the best of cities," for example, might see less traffic, but the use of a QR code — a touchless technology that is increasingly back in vogue — could aid engagement.

Coca-Cola will also have a strong presence in sports this fall. The combination of standard programming and customized units could engage with consumers that are watching as sports bank on a return to pre-pandemic norms, even as the delta variant threatens to upend those moves, as well. For example, marketing around the Olympics was a challenge as the pandemic and other developments changed how advertisers operated.

The Zero Sugar campaign comes as Coca-Cola looks to build on a Q2 2021 that saw revenues grow 42% to $10.1 billion amid the ongoing recovery in countries where the pandemic was abating at the time. The company doubled its marketing spend year-over-year in the quarter and is working to return spend toward 2019 levels.

While the latest campaign relies on a multitude of familiar marketing channels, Coca-Cola has also utilized more experimental tactics as of late. The company recently auctioned its first nonfungible token (NFT) collectibles, making it one of the largest advertisers to embrace the buzzy technology as interest in the so-called "metaverse" grows.