Brand: Coca-Cola with Lime
Execution: TV
Link: Click Here
Target: Pepsi Drinkers
Reviewer: David
Rating: ***

Description:
The launch advertising for Coca-Cola with Lime features a hip, Caribbean-sounding track with lots of retro-chic images like 50′s vintage TV announcers and self-parodying Coca-Cola scientists and executives (who look remarkably like some not-long-forgotten Coke executives).

What Works:
The concept here is crystal clear. Coke with lime. Got it. The music is pleasing and the images are interesting.

What Doesn’t:
I chose this spot because it raises the very interesting branding question of “What is a Brand” and the separate but associated question of how to announce product improvements or line extensions.

The most difficult aspect of this ad is that it doesn’t necessarily meet the first test of good advertising, which is answering the question “Why Should I Care?” (Or What’s In It For Me). Not that lime in Coke is an inherently bad idea. But why do I need a commercial to tell me something that would be very obvious on shelf. Follow me here:

David [walking down the soft-drink aisle]: That Coke can looks different…
Passerby: You’re right, what’s the green swoosh on the can?
David [stopping, picks up can]: Ah. A “Coke with Lime.”
Passerby: Cool.
David: Cool.

That’s not too hard to envision, is it? And if the shelf presence of the new can isn’t enough, Coke could use some sort of callout like a shelf talker to get people noticing the new flavor. Even a full-circulation, full-page FSI (free-standing insert in the coupon section of the Sunday paper) would be a fraction of the cost of this ad. So, the question is – why is Coke spending the money (and this is a high-production-quality-spot which obviously cost a bit) running a television ad campaign for Coke with Lime? The cynical view is that from the Atlanta perspective, Coke with Lime is a big idea. But it is hard to imagine that even the most self-obsessed marketing VP at Coke would fail to notice the ironic tone of the advertising (which mocks the idea that Coke with Lime is a great leap forward).

If this is a line extension, it seems hard to justify this advertising. Coke gets noticed and people would figure it out soon enough. The proposition does not need explaining. The advertising doesn’t really clarify Coke’s already somewhat confusing positioning.

If this is supposed to be a new brand (as Diet Coke became a fully independent brand), then what are they thinking? It doesn’t seem like a big enough idea.

Lastly, it seems possible that somebody is thinking that this will increase overall share and grab some Pepsi-drinkers. The plan for a line extension almost always is justified on the grounds that it will grow overall brand volume and not be 100% cannibalization from brand Coke. But it’s hard to imagine that Coke with Lime will much affect Pepsi.

One more question here – why add lime to Coke (which doesn’t have a taste issue) and not Diet Coke? Lots of people ask for Lemon or Lime with their Diet Coke.

Branding Bottom Line -
Will gain awareness for Coke with Lime, but seems superfluous. Why not just make the pitch on shelf and at fountain outlets?

This entry was posted on Monday, May 16th, 2005 at 7:57 pm and is filed under Coca-Cola. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.