case study marketing

.
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