Advertising of Coca-Cola

Diet Coke

Diet Coca-Cola is a sugar-free soft drink produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company. It was introduced in the United States in July 1982, and was the first new brand since 1886 to use the Coca-Cola trademark.

Target audience

Diet Coke has always been aimed at young women in their 20’s, this reason probably being is that women tend to worry more about their weight than men do.

Advertising diet coke

The most famous Diet Coke TV advert which makes its target audience clear must be the one from 1996.

The advert shows a bunch of women buzzing around their office telling each other “its 11:30! It’s 11:30!” and then they all go to the window where they see a sexy builder lay down his tools… then the tune of “I don’t want to work all day… I don’t want to be no slave” sounds as the women watch the builder peel off his vest and drink a can of diet coke.

The marketing strategy behind this ad was to make Coca-Cola look sexy. And because it had no calories, it meant you could look sexy while drinking it, and feel sexy afterwards. However the advert wasn’t really aimed for a male audience, although the company wasn’t aiming at male audiences. Diet coke was shown for being one for the ladies, guys had regular coke.

Targeting men

After a while the Coca-Cola Company became concerned that Diet coke is only aimed at females and began to think of new strategies which could target members of the opposite sex who usually shun the soft drink because of its feminine image.

In the UK the sugar-free benefit of Diet Coke has historically been more relevant to women, so Diet Coke had become a female-biased brand. The marketing reflected this - especially the advertising. The brand has a heritage of 1980's iconic advertising with broader appeal, but more recent advertising had a clear female bias, and was failing to engage a wider audience.

However, with the increasing consumer trend towards balance in diet for men as well as women, the Diet Coke product has become a more motivating proposition for men. Changes in the Diet Coke consumption profile are reflecting this with more than 40% volume now coming from men. This is an audience who is now buying into the rational product benefits of Diet Coke, but still seeing the brand as being for women and not for them.

Objectives

A campaign was needed to prompt brand reappraisal and emotional connection with a new audience for Diet Coke: young men in their 20s. The communication needed to broaden the brand's appeal and relevance to fully engage them.

Strategy

A campaign featuring "Tort" - a tortoise with a can of Diet Coke on his back and a love of life - was developed to reach a unisex audience in their 20s. The advertising demonstrates that drinking Diet Coke helps fuel your confidence to participate in life and connect with others.

A tortoise is normally known for being slow and reserved. But in this case, Tort ironically dramatises the Diet Coke brand's love of life philosophy. His actions are beyond his normal capabilities because of the vibrant self-confidence Diet Coke gives him. Tort's personality and humour allows the brand to communicate rational messages in a highly engaging way.

The campaign was launched in December 2004 and ran on TV, cinema, posters, press, and online. It's being accompanied by a strong synergistic in-store POS presence, and the biggest sampling campaign ever in the history of Coca-Cola GB.

The 40 second advertisement features a little tortoise with a can of diet coke on its back. The advert goes to show the tortoise doing normal “guy” things such as playing football, chatting up girls and skateboarding.

Outcome of campaign

According to the Coca-cola website the campaign is seen as strongly branded and well-integrated, with a higher awareness index than any Diet Coke advertising within the previous five years.

Diet Coke grew by +14% in July year on year and Diet Coke continues to perform strongly to date. DKO Lime had hit its target by July and according to Millward Brown, positive purchase intent for Diet Coke has increased directionally