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Coca-Cola Zero

Precision at a Scale That Makes Precision Hard

Topicmarketing
TypeStrategy
Year2023

Context

Zero Sugar lives in a complicated brand position: it has the benefit of Coca-Cola's legacy trust but carries the liability of being the 'healthier' option — a label that can feel clinical in a category defined by pleasure. The media strategy needed to work with that positioning, leaning into what Zero Sugar actually is for its specific consumer rather than trying to be everything Coke Classic is to everyone.

Approach

Segmented the media plan around the Zero Sugar consumer's actual behavior: health-conscious but not health-obsessed, interested in flavor and experience, active in streaming and digital-first environments. Built allocation recommendations around reach efficiency and contextual relevance rather than pure scale, with specific attention to the channels where the Zero Sugar audience could be reached without cannibalizing Classic's positioning.

Results
  • Defined a targeted media allocation strategy weighted toward digital, streaming, and sports adjacency
  • Aligned messaging with the specific identity positioning — flavor-forward, not restriction-forward
  • Improved channel integration with clear Zero Sugar brand voice differentiated from Coke Classic
Takeaways

Big budgets don't solve positioning problems — they amplify them

You can buy a lot of media for a message that doesn't land. The strategic work is figuring out what the message should actually be and who it's really for. The media plan follows from that clarity, not the other way around.