COKE ZERO
We made it black.
Despite acing blind taste tests, Coke Zero faced a sales struggle during its US debut. Within two years, it would launch in Australia and needed a campaign for the rollout.
Zero degrees of separation.
Woman were seen to be the core customers for no-cal drinks, but in actual fact – men made up about 55% of the Coke Zero market. The stronger, Coke-like flavour of Zero simply appealed to them more. The problem we recognised was that Zero’s white packaging too closely resembled Diet Coke, which was specifically tailored to attract female consumers.
A simple yet transformative change.
While our brief was to simply roll out the current white design for Coke Zero’s launch in Australia, we saw bigger potential. The current colorway didn’t fit the brand promise of uncompromised flavor for the males, nor was it easy to distinguish from Diet Coke.
We proposed a simple, yet bold, change: make the packaging black to reflect Zero’s stronger flavor, appeal to a male audience more strongly, and differentiate the drink from Diet Coke.
The most successful FMCG launch in history.
Within weeks, Coke Zero became the most successful FMCG launch in Australian history. This led to the global rollout of our black packaging. In the UK alone, Coke Zero experienced a sales increase of £24 million in its first three months, and it was a hit in every market it launched in. Today, black Coke Zero even outsells classic ‘red’ Coke in many places.
What we did:
Packaging design
Packaging design
