At a recent media event, The Coca-Cola Company introduced its brand new TikTok Exclusive Flavor Drops.
The raspberry-flavored ‘Coca-Cola Spiced,’ along with a limited-run Creations drop, “Tears of Joy,” will only be sold via TikTok Shop.
‘Spiced’ will be the first permanent flavor addition in over 3 years.
The strategy behind the two flavors differs but, both show Coke trying to push new products to market faster to keep up with constantly shifting consumer trends, particularly when it comes to the digitally savvy Gen Z.
“The mindset, I think, especially with our marketing transformation agenda...is that we’re a 137-year-old startup. A fundamental transformation that we’ve taken on is focusing on bolder, faster and fewer initiatives.”
The speedy roll out of ‘Spiced’ was supported by insights stemming from Creations, a platform Coke debuted two years ago that focuses on far-fetched flavors based on creative concepts. like space and dreams.
Getting Spicy
Spiced cans are also taller and sleeker to put forward a Premium Brand Position.
The debut of ‘Spiced’ is supported through a marketing campaign that includes a custom Snapchat lens, and messaging that emphasizes the beverage’s ‘sensory experience.’
Coke hosted an event in New York in February that uses an immersive AI experience to display the expression of people trying the soda for the first time.
“We don’t want to tell consumers what it’s like to drink a Coca-Cola Spiced, we want to tell them how they feel so we can connect more authentically.”
Bottling Emotions
Coke’s latest ‘Creations’ Concept attempts to capture the flavor of ‘Happy Tears,’ while also capturing interest in TikTok’s E-commerce Marketplace.
The drink has a “splash of salty minerals” to emulate the taste of tears, according to a press release from Coke.
Coke is taking a different approach for this offering, selling the sentimental soda on TikTok in the form of “hype kits” that come with tissues to wipe away tears.
The idea is to capitalize on the unboxing genre of social media content where creators unpack goods they receive piece by piece.
Influencer partnerships and a TikTok Effect promoting acts of kindness round out Coke’s efforts on the ByteDance-owned app that is trying to get its Shop platform to take off in the U.S.
“It’s a much more limited quantity … but it’s a great way for us to learn. It’s meant to be a little bit different for us and we’re really excited to learn from it.”
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