Coca-Cola is aiming to get “Life” in the hands of calorie-conscious Canadians.
The beverage giant is launching a robust campaign to promote the arrival of Coca-Cola Life in Canada. The product is sweetened with stevia—a zero-calorie natural sweetener—and cane sugar, and has 50% fewer calories than regular colas. It was first introduced in Argentina and Chile in 2013, and is being rolled out in various markets globally.
The Canadian launch includes a video (adapted from the global spot) running on TV, digital and in cinemas; a social media influencer program; 80,000 pieces of in-store materials including posters, tent cards and POS; and partnerships with Vice and Well.ca to create video content with Canadian chefs, who will share recipes that pair well with Coca-Cola Life.
In addition, a sampling program will reach one million Canadians, including product drops at people’s homes and retail and foodservice sampling.
The campaign is part of Coca-Cola’s global “Taste the Feeling” platform, which markets Cola-Cola products with a “one brand” strategy.
“Our one brand strategy was really to say how do we offer Coca-Cola in different variants that meet different consumer needs, and we wanted to make sure that we have exactly what the consumer is looking for,” said Michael Samoszewski, vice-president, sparkling business unit, Coca-Cola, in an interview with Marketing.
With Coca-Cola Life, “we saw an unmet need in the marketplace. There are some people who are looking for a reduced-calorie soft drink that’s sweetened from natural sources and that was really the opportunity for us that we saw globally.”
The target audience for Coca-Cola Life is 30+, with the sweet spot being 30 to 49 years old, said Samoszewski. “I would say it’s less about age than it is with that time of life where people are a little more conscious about calories, but still want a great-tasting product. And they’re looking for that natural-source sweetener.”
The idea is not to bring new cola drinkers to the category, “but re-introduce Coca-Cola to people who may have left the category because they didn’t have those product dimensions [of Coca-Cola Life],” said Samoszewski.
Coca-Cola Life is available in 500mL PET bottles, 12- and 15-packs of 355mL cans and six-packs for 222mL cans.
Coca-Cola is working with Ogilvy & Mather on the creative adaptation and digital media; Carat on the media buy; Mosaic on the retail activation and sampling; LPI on in-store POS and Hill + Knowlton Strategies on public relations.
