Rethinking Diet Coke's Branding

(This post is my first joint piece between LYEATT and Engedi Artistry. In this post, I'll be covering why Diet Coke needs to rethink its branding, and in the other post, I actually redesign Diet Coke's logo using the ideas discussed here. Check out that post at this link.)

If you're like me, you're probably a big fan of Coke's products. I am not really a coffee drinker, so if you see me with a cup of anything in the morning, it's most likely a cup of pop.

As you all know, I lost 100 pounds between January 2015 and March 2016. Prior to that, I was a big fan of Mountain Dew and regular Coca-Cola. In my attempt to be healthy, I cut out all regular pop and switched to diet. Not being all that big a fan of Diet Mountain Dew, I mostly stuck with Diet Coke and Coke Zero.

(Side note: I know there are tons of studies saying that diet colas are bad in their own right, but I'll be honest: they seriously helped me to lose weight and maintain my weight loss. I'm not advocating them as a healthy alternative to water but... this post really isn't about that, so we'll leave it there!)

Diet Coke and Coke Zero's branding have been really interesting to me. They both have the Coke name attached to them, and they are both diet colas. They do both have their own unique flavor, and as a fan of both, I'll be quite honest: both taste about as equally far away to regular Coca-Cola. I know they probably touted at one point that Coke Zero was all the flavor of Coca-Cola without the calories, but really, it's just a different diet variant of the original formula.

But the reason Coke Zero came to be was only partially related to its new flavor. It was actually a response to Diet Coke's branding. I'm going to argue in this post that Coca-Cola as a whole really needs to rethink the Diet Coke brand because I think its missing out on a targeted audience.


Flavor aside, Coke Zero came into existence because Diet Coke was originally branded as a female drink, and that branding has pretty much remained that way since its inception. Debuting in 1982, it certainly makes sense why. Women were much more concerned about their image than men.

I'll be honest: I can't find any explicit references online that Coca-Cola purposefully chose to do this, but I think the branding speaks for itself.

Here is Diet Coke as it stands today. (And yes, I have read that Coca-Cola will be re-branding its whole line soon. Still, I contend this post will remain relevant.) The Diet Coke logo evokes female imagery in a number of ways.

• The silvery finish is evocative of a mirror, and mirrors are most often used to analyze one's beauty in things like putting on make up.
• The choice of red, especially against that silvery finish, is very evocative of women's red lipstick.
• The choice of fonts align more closely to other women's products than men's products.

Now, before anybody gets up in arms that I'm sexist, I'm not trying to say Diet Coke is a women's drink. Quite the opposite actually. I love Diet Coke, so I wish their branding had a more gender neutral tone about it.

Even more to the point, I can prove Coca-Cola very subtlety agrees with me.

Coca-Cola provides their own description on the history of Diet Coke (linked here), and in that description, they explicitly note that Diet Coke was a drink targeted for men. I find that a bit odd, and I honestly think that is their way of covering their history and not appearing sexist.

Enter Coke Zero in 2005. Being 2016, Coca-Cola themselves posted a ten-year anniversary fact sheet about Coke Zero (linked here) that is very telling about their marketing. In that article, they make some interesting quips that don't quite align with how they supposedly perceived the original vision for Diet Coke.

Here is an image of the original Coke Zero cans when they first came out:

And here's what Coca-Cola had to say in their article.

When Coke Zero premiered in the U.S. in June 2005, it was not an overnight success. The brand was promoted initially with the “Everybody Chill” tagline, which confused some consumers. Coke Zero debuted in white cans and bottles to help the brand stand out on store shelves. Many young males – the target demographic – associated the white labels with feminine-leaning diet drinks. Coke Zero needed a more masculine look and message.

Interesting. Now, keep in mind how Coke Zero looks now in conjunction with another line from the article.

A few months after the U.S. launch, Coca-Cola South Pacific introduced Coke Zero in black cans to appeal to (mostly young male) fans of the All Blacks, New Zealand’s national rugby team. The team unveiled the brand in both white and black cans and let consumers pick a favorite. The black can won in a landslide. Packaging wasn’t the only thing Australia got right. An innovative online teaser and guerilla marketing campaign called the “Zero Movement” generated a strong pre-launch buzz. And Coca-Cola Australia purchased a massive “roadblock” – simultaneous airtime on public TV networks and cable channels plus an overnight out-of-home blitz – to premiere Coke Zero’s first commercial on Australia Day in January 2006. The strategy paid off. Coke Zero – dubbed “Bloke Coke” due to its focus on young males – sold more than three times its target number of cases in its first year. The U.S. quickly took note, switching to black packaging during the holiday season and adopting more literal tagline: “Real Coca-Cola Taste and Zero Calories.” 

It's evident here that Coca-Cola really pushed the agenda to make Coke Zero a masculine drink, and they did so by focusing on a darker brand.

So if they really wanted Diet Coke to be pushed toward men, then why does the branding stand as it does today...?

One can only guess at why, but I personally think it's because Coca-Cola is okay with the idea of Diet Coke being a feminine drink. Not that I have any problem with that, but I really think they could stand to benefit from re-branding because I personally enjoy the taste of Diet Coke a lot. I think they could tap into an untapped market with a brand redesign...

...and here is where I end this post! I'll pick up over at Engedi Artistry, where I actually take a shot at redesigning the Diet Coke logo to target a broader audience. Join me over there using this link.