Failure Case Study: Coca-Cola Life - Targeting the "Middle Ground" Fails to Resonate with Consumers - Research and Markets

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Failure Case Study: Coca-Cola Life - Targeting the "middle ground" fails to resonate with consumers" report to their offering.

"Failure Case Study: Coca-Cola Life" is part of the analyst's Successes and Failures research. It examines the details of and reasons behind Coca-Cola's first moderate-calorie cola's failure in the UK. It delivers the critical "what?", "why?", and "so what?" analysis to teach you crucial lessons that increase your chances of launching successful products as well as avoiding risks.

In the UK, Coca-Cola Life sold 21.5 million liters in 2015, accounting for just 1.2% of the total UK sales of Coca-Cola's four main colas. The country has a relatively large market for diet colas, so understandably the new lower-sugar and -calorie cola was considered to have potential. However, Coca-Cola Life struggled to resonate with UK consumers, who could not see the advantages over the already popular zero-sugar Coke Zero and Diet Coke options.

Scope

• Launched in the UK in 2014, Coca-Cola Life contained 36% fewer calories than regular Coca-Cola, due to a formulation that used stevia extract to reduce the sugar content by 37%. Despite a lot of publicity upon launch and a recipe reformulation to reduce sugar and calories further, Cola-Cola Life is now in the process of being pulled from shelves.
• The "in-between" formulation failed to appeal to consumers, given the brand already had zero-sugar and -calorie options (Coke Zero and Diet Coke) available as an alternative to standard Coca-Cola.
• Adopting a "middle-ground" approach is risky, especially if it fails to address a genuine consumer need.
• Soft drinks purchases are driven by brand familiarity, sensory attributes, and health, yet Coca-Cola Life failed to resonate because it did not offer clear advantages over Coke's existing line-up.
• Developing breakfast cereal influenced by Western culture to meet local sensory preferences generates opportunities.

Key Topics Covered:

1. About Successes & Failures Case Studies
2. Summary: Coca-Cola Life
3. What?
4. Why?
5. Take-out
6. TrendSights
7. Appendix

Companies Mentioned

• Coca-Cola
• Pepsi

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/t8gxhn/failure_case