Coca-Cola is changing its look
Coca-Cola is getting a makeover.
The brand that is all but synonymous with American culture is changing the design on its bottles and cans, but they won’t be available in the U.S. to begin with.
The new design is intended to bring a visual consistency across Coca-Cola’s various products by using the same signature red circle with the Coca-Cola label. Sub-brands Coke Zero (zero calories), Diet Coke (the no-sugar variety that was re-branded Coke Light), and Coke Life (a recent reduced-calorie addition to the line-up) will have secondary colors to distinguish them.
Bill Schmitz, a consumer products analyst at Deutsche Bank, said the idea behind Coke’s new campaign is to simplify its message. “Rather than advertise all these different brands, it lets them really leverage the marketing scale around choice,” Schmitz said.
The newly branded products will first be available in Mexico, where Coca-Cola is very popular, and then roll out to other countries throughout the year. No word from Coca-Cola as to when the change might come to the U.S. market.
The redesign comes as all soda makers battle a decline in consumption, which is at a 30-year low, according to Beverage Digest.
Coca-Cola has been hanging on. It reported solid profits in its last quarter of 2015. But the good news came from non-carbonated sales: drinks like tea and juice, not soda.
The image makeover is part of Coca-Cola’s efforts to turn things around for its namesake product.
“The company is trying to communicate to the consumer that you can consume these products with no sugar,” said Nik Modi, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets. “And obviously sugar has become top of mind these days with a lot of the public health community. “
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