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Case Study: Coca-Cola Life

Recently, Coca-Cola launched, in the UK 2014, a new product to its long standing line of soft drinks, called 'Coca-Cola Life' along with a month long campaign. 

Coca-Cola Life fits in the same kind of category as Coke Zero and Diet Coke - another one of Coca-Cola’s attempts to release a healthier option to its main heavily sugary product.

Coca-Cola Life was first launched in Argentina and Chile in 2013, arriving in Europe with its UK launch in 2014. Coca-Cola Life, which is sweetened with natural sweetener stevia and sugar, was launched in the UK in September 2014, and now contains 45% less calories and sugar than the classic flagship version.

At the time of its UK launch it was championed as being ‘well-positioned to meet changing lifestyle trends, providing people with a great-tasting, lower-calorie cola sweetened from natural sources’.

The campaign was rolled out across 7,000 outdoor locations nationwide with billboards, bus and digital screen ads; these are all being supported by print, digital, experiential and point of sale activity. Although television is not being used the buzz on social media since the drinks’ launch has been mainly positive.

Along with all of the above, Coca-Cola launched a competition - on Saturday 20th September a pop-up shop opened on South Molton Street, London offering customers to not just have a taste of the new Life drink, but also give them a chance of winning a Coca-Cola Life prize - one of those being a long weekend in New York City. Of course, to fulfil the campaign’s integrated position those who were not able to visit the pop-up shop still had the chance to enter the competition by sharing a Coca-Cola Life moment picture online and using the hashtags #CocaColaLife and #comp.

Campaign mpact

1.3 Million+ Global coverage impressions

78 Pieces of UK-only coverage

2 High impact media moments creating a sustained approach- main launch event followed by release of campaign imagery

2,000+ Consumers visited the installation and participated in the competition over a two day period

Did it work?

Coca-Cola Life sales have slumped in the UK over the past year and the brand now accounts for less than 1% of Coca-Cola trademark sales.

Coca-Cola Life is to be withdrawn from the UK market from June, although the stevia-sweetened drink will remain in other markets including the US.

Coca-Cola GB says it will phase out the brand in June and will instead focus on sugar-free sales, simplifying the choice for consumers between sugar and sugar-free formats.

Coca-Cola Life: What's all the fuss about?

Brands are under pressure to reduce sugar in their drinks, while a number of consumers remain skeptical about artificial sweeteners. Coca-Cola’s answer was Coca-Cola Life, which uses natural sweetener stevia – some 200 times sweeter than sugar – to reduce sugar content.

The launch of Life has commonly been credited with propelling stevia into the limelight, with Coca-Cola being one of the first big name brands to use the sweetener.

But Coca-Cola admits that Life has only gathered a ‘niche’ following in the UK. Is this because consumers don’t understand what that green can is all about? Do they know what stevia is? Or has the other of choice gone too far and bewildered consumers – do they simply stick with what they know?

Is the sugar content of Life – still at a considerable 19g per can – still too high for consumers? (it is, in fact, too high to escape the UK’s sugar tax in April 2018)

Or are consumers simply turned 0% by soda altogether, turning to options they perceive to be healthier?

How much sugar in each brand? 

Coca-Cola Life: 76 calories & 19g sugar per 330ml can.

Coca-Cola Classic:139 calories & 35g sugar per can

Coca-Cola Zero Sugar: sugar free, sweetened with aspartame & acesulfame K.

The Rise of Coca-Cola Zero

Coca-Cola GB says it will continue to showcase Coca-Cola Classic, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and Diet Coke under the One Brand strategy.

Coca-Cola GB says that half of its Coca-Cola sales now come from sugar-free varieties and it is accelerating investment in Coca-Cola Zero Sugar (Zero Sugar replaces Coca-Cola Zero, which had been on shelves since 2006).

Nine months after its launch sales in grocery and convenience stores are up 52% and for the first time sales of no-sugar Coca-Cola (Zero Sugar and Diet Coke) match those of Coca-Cola Classic.

Coca-Cola Zero Sugar sales have now reached £115m ($143m) since it launched in June 2016.

As part of its plans to grow Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, the business will embark on its biggest sampling campaign later this summer, with 11 million samples on over across the country. The plans will be supported by out of home, TV and in store activity.

“As a result, more than 50% of Coca-Cola sales in UK grocery are sugar-free.

Case Study Question

What was the promotional mix used by Coca-Cola to launch the IMC campaign the Coca-Cola Life in the UK in 2014?