People looking for sugarless alternatives to original Coca-Cola do not turn to diet soda. They drink water, tea, or sports drinks.
Zero sugar = zero Coke taste.
The bias consumers had against diet soda was rampant. So much so they wouldn’t even try a new sugarless beverage because they’d made up their minds about how it would taste: artificial and nothing like the real thing.
Taste with your tongue.
After months of reformulating and consumer testing with Coke Zero Sugar, people were letting their minds make decisions on matters of taste. It was impossible to change their perceptions with anything other than actual taste. This was a problem for the hyperbolic soft drink category where good taste is table stakes.
Zero hype. Zero sugar.
No flashy spokespeople, celebrities, or picturesque destinations. We took all the tropes of beverage advertising away and left consumers with a simple, true claim about taste.
Read more about the launch from the official Coca-Cola Company release.
How Coca-Cola got Americans to drink diet soda again - Washington Post
Coca-Cola earnings: Zero Sugar led to stronger 3Q earnings - USA Today
Coke Zero Sugar Helps Coca-Cola Hold On to Soda Drinkers - Wall Street Journal