The Coca-Cola Company is launching a new permanent addition to its flagship cola line this month: Coca-Cola Spiced, a raspberry and spice flavored soda available in original and Zero Sugar varieties.
Spiced is the company’s first permanent line extension for Coca-Cola in over three years, having previously introduced Orange Vanilla in 2019 and Cherry Vanilla in 2020, alongside short-lived lines such as Coke Energy and Coca-Cola with Coffee.
Coca-Cola Spiced will launch on February 19 in a variety of formats, including 12 oz. sleek cans in single-serve and 12-packs, mini can 10-packs, 20 oz. rPET bottles, half-liter 6-packs and 2 liter bottles. The Zero Sugar variety will be available in a more selective range of 12 oz. sleek cans (single and 12-packs) and in 20 oz. bottles. The original version contains 150 calories and 41 grams of sugar per 12 oz. serving.
“We know that consumers, they’re more and more willing to try new and unique flavors,” said Sue Lynn Cha, VP of marketing for Coca-Cola, North America, in a presentation yesterday. “[Our R&D team has] been fabulous in terms of defining how do you add spice to Coca-Cola in a way that still delivers the delicious and refreshing taste, because that’s what Coca-Cola stands for: delicious and refreshing.”
Alongside Spice, the company also announced a new limited edition flavor for its Coca-Cola Creations line: Coca-Cola Happy Tears Zero Sugar. The Creations series has featured an array of quirky LTO cola flavors, including the “space-flavored” Stardust and “dream-flavored” Dreamworld. Happy Tears is debuting on February 17 and, in a move targeting Gen Z consumers, will be sold exclusively through TikTok in the U.S.
Happy Tears is packaged in a specialty “hype kit” which includes two cans (which are embossed with a “drop of joy”) alongside “stickers, kindness-themed apparel, and customized tissues.”
The new flavors were unveiled yesterday in New York City during Coke’s “Real Magic Untapped” event, featuring a panel with Coca-Cola Company executives discussing its evolving innovation and marketing strategies for 2024.
Speaking on the panel, Selman Careaga, president, global category – Coca-Cola, noted that Coke Zero Sugar has been “probably the most important engine of growth for the company over the past few years,” particularly in North America, and it will continue to be a key part of the company’s innovation strategy going forward.
In particular, he said the company has hastened its innovation turnaround schedule from 12 months or more to creating new products in as little as two months, from concept to launch.
On the sustainability front, Shakir Moin, chief of marketing, Coca-Cola North America said the company intends to fully transition all of its 20 oz. plastic bottles to rPET recycled plastic this year as part of its ongoing sustainability initiatives.
This week, Coke is launching the latest version of its “Best Coke Ever?” marketing campaign promoting Zero Sugar, which will include TV commercials, and materials developed using artificial intelligence. The campaign also includes a new platform, Coke SoundZ, which gives music producers access to materials to remix the commercial’s audio materials to allow them to “form the audio for the campaign.”
According to Cha, Coke will also offer consumers “immersive A.I. experiences” at a marketing pop-up event in New York later this month, as well as promoting the Spiced line through Snapchat and TikTok. Much of the brand’s overall marketing strategy is aimed at reaching Gen Z, she noted.
“Gen Z is super important for us as a brand,” Cha said. “I mean, our role is really to engage and appeal with the next generation of drinkers and we’re really thinking about it holistically. Like, we’re thinking about it innovation with product, like Creations … we’re thinking about it in terms of really pushing ourselves to be leading the way when it comes to A.I. and digital activation experiences.”