The most popular soda brand in the world, Coca-Cola, has been well-known for its marketing strategies. Based on consumer insights and social needs, it has launched plenty of successful campaigns to strengthen its brand equity and value, such as the “Share A Coke” campaign in 2011 which used personalized bottles with consumers’ names to motivates them to post pictures on social media.
The leading position of Coca-Cola
As the top 1 most valuable soft drink brand, Coca-Cola has always been ahead of its other competitors. The reintroduction of Diet Coke in 2018 has made this trend increasingly dramatic and in 2019 its value of 💲36.2 bn has doubled the second leading brand Pepsi’s value of 💲18.5 bn. However, more attention has been paid to health issues nowadays, which could be a great challenge that Coca-Cola has to face.
Coca-Cola accused of deceptive marketing
According to the report on October 2, 2019, two pastors in Washington DC condemned Coca-Cola for misleading consumers without informing them of the health consequences caused by sugar. This seems an accusation of original Coca-Cola but is diet Coke as healthy as expected? How are the statements of no sugar and zero calories reliable? This has also been doubted by researchers as there is uncertainty about the harm of artificial sweeteners. For instance, some studies indicate that they would work as incentives for increased appetites which would result in more food intake and is detrimental for those who attempt to lose weight by drinking diet coke. Under this circumstance, although Coca-Cola claims that they value their consumers’ health and try to provide them with better choices, this could just be their marketing strategies to secure the leading position in the soft drink market.
How long will such strategies work in the future?
Personally speaking, as a consumer, I tend to choose diet coke because of its “zero calories” which is attractive for a person who always struggles to lose weight like me. In other words, Coca-Cola’s marketing strategies work effectively for its target audiences. Nevertheless, after seeing the study result of potential harm brought by artificial sweeteners, I become aware of the fact that there is no significant difference between original coke and diet coke. As a result, it is necessary for me not to use diet coke as an excuse to escape the need for sugar quitting and fall into the trap of Coca-Cola. In addition, such awareness will contribute to a negative impression of this brand. We can imagine that with more studies on diet coke, the public would obtain more knowledge about its potential risks and this may harm the brand equity of Coca-Cola. Faced with this inevitable challenge, is it still the optimal approach to continually express its belief in health? Or should it just sincerely recognize the existence of health issues and target those who purchase its products for taste rather than health? I guess these questions remain to be answered in the future.
https://www.law360.com/articles/1205327
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/116111114/are-diet-soft-drinks-better-for-me
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