case study marketing

C
A
SE
A
S
SI
G
N
M
E
N
T: COKE ZERO

.
l
fen 
D
r
i
n
k Diet 
Coke?

a 
cou
p
l
e of 
ma
r
k
et
in
g mana
g
e
r
s 
for Coca-Cola told attorney Elizabeth Finn Johnson that they wanted to sue their
Z
ero 
c
oll
e
a
g
ues 
for 
“ta
ste 
i
n
fr
i
nge
m
ent
,
” 
she was baffled
. 
She tried to talk them out of it
, 
but they were determined.
T
h
ey a
rg
u
ed tha
t 
Co
ca-Cola Cl
as
s
i
c 
shoul
d be protected from the age discrimination it 
w
ould suffer 
w
ith the introduction
of 
a n
e
w
e
r
, y
oun
g
e
r 
so
ft 
drink th
at tas
t
ed 
e
x
actl
y 
the same as the original
. 
Frustrated
, 
Finn Johnson held up the Coke can
s
h
o
u
ted
, 
“
It’
s 
no
t 
a perso
n! T
it
le V
II 
do
e
s
n’
t cover these things!
“
Wh
at 
sh
e didn
‘
t 
k
no
w 
wa
s 
th
at the 
marketing managers were actors. Hidden cameras had been planted around
me
e
ti
ng roo
m 
t
o capt
u
r
e the react
i
ons o
f several unsuspecting attorneys who had been asked to consider the case
,
inclu
d
i
n
g 
an i
mm
ig
r
ati
on 
l
a
w
y
e
r 
w
ho 
w
a
s 
a
s
ke
d if he could get the Coke Zero marketing head deported back to Cana
d
a
.
T
h
e sh
ort vi
d
e
os 
we
r
e st
r
a
te
gi
c
a
ll
y 
p
l
aced on w
ebsites like YouTube.com to promote Coke Zero as the hip
, 
new
a
lt
ernativ
e 
t
o D
i
et Co
ke f
o
r me
n
.

T
he C
oc
a
–
Co
la Compa
n
y 
k
now
s 
i
t has 
to be creative if it
‘ 
s going to 
s
ell more soda after sales dropped two years
i
n 
a row i
n 
2
00
5 a
n
d 
2
0
06
. 
M
org
a
n 
S
t
a
n
l
e
y 
a
n
al
y
st Bill Pecoriello explains, “Consumers are becoming ever more health
–
nsc
io
us
, 
an
d 
the 
imag
e o
f 
re
g
ul
ar c
a
r
b
on
at
ed 
so
f
t drinks is deteriorating rapidl
y
.
” 
In an attempt to appeal to consumers
con
cer
ne
d 
w
i
th 
n
ut
ri
t
i
o
n, 
C
o
k
e 
i
n
tro
d
u
ced 
D
i
et 
C
oke Plus in 2007
, 
a sweeter version of Diet Coke fortified with vitamins
an
d m
i
n
eral
s. 
Bu
t wh
a
t 
t
he
y rea
lly 
needed 
w
as a w
a
y 
to reach young male consumer
s, 
and Diet Coke Plus
, 
marketed with

o 
l
i
ne
s li
k
e 
“
Y
our Bes
t F
r
i
e
nd J
u
s
t 
Go
t 
Fri
end
l
ier!” wasn’t going to do it
.

A f
e
w 
n
ew 
produ
c
t
s 
ap
p
e
a
l
e
d 
t
o cert
ai
n male demographics, such as Coca
–
Cola Blak
, 
a cola with coffee essence
cr
eat
ed f
or 
ol
der
, 
mor
e s
op
hi
s
ti
c
at
e
d 
c
on
s
u
m
e
r
s w
ho are willing to pay more
, 
and Full Throttle Blue Demon
, 
an energy
d
r
i
nk w
it
h a
n 
aga
v
e azule 
f
lavor 
(
t
h
i
n
k 
m
a
r
ga
r
i
ta
s
) 
designed to appeal to Hispanic men
. 
However
, 
research showed that
i
e
r
e w
as 
s
t
i
ll 
a b
i
g de
m
og
r
a
ph
i
c 
h
o
l
e 
t
o 
f
i
ll 
a
s 
y
oung men between the ages of 18 and 34 were abandoning the Coca
–
Col
a b
r
a
n
d alt
og
et
her
. 
T
he
y 
d
i
d
n
‘
t w
a
nt 
a
l
l 
t
h
e ca
lo
r
ies o
f 
regular Coke, but they weren
‘
t w
i
lling to make the move to
D
i
et 
Cok
e
, 
eith
er
, 
w
h
ich 
has 
t
rad
iti
ona
lly 
been 
m
ark
e
ted to women who want to lose weight
.
Kat
ie 
Ba
y
n
e
, 
c
h
i
e
f m
ar
k
e
tin
g 
o
f
fi
cer f
or Co
ca-Cola North America
, 
says that the men who weren
‘
t put offby the
=
f
emi
n
i
n
e s
t
igm
a
” 
of D
i
et 
Co
k
e 
of
ten 
re
j
e
ct
ed 
i
t 
an
yw
a
y 
because of its aspartame
–
sweetened aftertaste. 
“
What we were
see
i
ng 
bef
ore 
Zero launc
hed 
w
a
s 
tha
t 
m
or
e a
n
d m
o
r
e 
y
o
unger people were interested in no
–
calorie beverages but weren’t
goi
n
g 
t
o 
s
acr
i
f
ice 
t
as
t
e
,” 
Ba
y
ne 
sa
i
d
. 
“
S
o 
wh
e
n th
ey g
ot 
i
nterested in no-calorie, they were like, ‘Forget it, I
‘
m not going

i 
l 
l 
D
i
e
t 
Co
ke
.
“

Te
s
t
ing sho
w
ed tha
t the na
m
e 
“
C
ok
e 
Z
er
o
” 
w
o
uld be an effective way to sell a low
–
calorie cola to men without
. g 
t
h
e w
ord 
“
d
i
et
.
” A
nd ad
va
n
ce
s 
i
n 
a
r
t
i
f
ic
i
a
l 
s
w
ee
teners made it possible for Coke to finally create a product that
t
a
s
t
ed 
m
or
e 
l
i
k
e 
t
he 
“
Real Th
i
n
g
.
” 
S
o e
xpec
t
at
i
ons w
e
re 
high when Coke Zero was i
n
troduced in 2005 with a big
mark
e
ti
ng 
push
, 
i
ncluding a com
merci
al 
t
ha
t rem
ad
e t
h
e f
a
m
ous 1971 “Hilltop
l
I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing
” 
ad
–
thi
s t
i
m
e 
w
ith 
rapper G
–
Love on a r
ooft
op sing
i
ng 
that h
e’d like to teach the world to 
“
chill.
” 
Unfortunately
, 
the
comm
erci
al 
d
i
dn
‘
t catch on
, 
and n
eith
e
r d
id the p
r
od
u
ct 
i
t w
as selling.
Desp
i
te 
disappointing sal
e
s in 
the 
U_
S
.
, 
how
e
v
e
r
, 
C
o
k
e Zero was a
n i
mmediate hit in Australia
, 
selling more
th
an th
ree ti
mes th
e number of cases e
x
p
ect
ed d
u
rin
g 
i
ts 
f
i
r
s
t y
ear on the market
. 
In the U.S
., 
the packagi
n
g was white
si
l
v
er
, 
m
aki
ng it difficult for consume
rs 
to s
e
e 
th
e 
d
i
ffe
re
n
c
e 
b
et
w
een Coke Zero and Diet Coke
. 
In Australia, the
es an
d ca
ns w
ere black, making the pr
od
u
c
t 
s
t
an
d o
u
t on 
t
he 
s
he
lv
e
s 
and look more like the “bloke’s Coke” it was
i
nten
ded t
o b
e
.
Th
e 
U
.
S
. 
marketing team took notice 
and re
i
n
t
r
odu
c
ed 
Coke Ze
ro 
w
ith a black and silver label in 2007
. 
Coca-
Co
l
a 
i
s n
o
w 
i
n
ve
sting more money in Coke Zer
o than a
ny 
o
t
h
e
r bra
n
d i
t
s 
s
i
z
e
, 
ho
ping i
t 
will someday be a megabrand for
th
e c
o
mp
a
n
y 
al
ongside Coca
–
Cola Classic and D
i
e
t 
C
o
k
e
. 
C
h
i
e
f 
Ma
r
k
e
ti
ng 
O
f
f
i
c
e
r 
Ba
y
ne 
i
s enthusiastic about the impact
– 
may h
av
e 
o
n 
t
he company. 
“
We do see this a
s 
po
t
e
n
t
ial
l
y 
a b
i
t ofa 
w
h
i
t
e knig
h
t
. 
There’s huge opportunit
y 
to gro
w
h
e
r
e.
“I