To Coca-Cola (one more): If you want to change consumer´s behavior, change consumer´s thought and beliefs about your brand or category

 

I think everyone has heard about one of Coca-Cola’s brand, the “Coca-Cola Light Plus” (Diet Coke plus). Each 12-ounce serving of the product contains 25% of the daily value for vitamins B3, B6, and B12, as well as 15% of zinc and magnesium. All of these nutrients help maintain a healthy immune system.

It sounds good, but practically, still being Coke. The company is changing Coke´s attributes, however, they did not change the consumer´s believes. And actually, as I said in my previous post, to change public beliefs the message needs to be convincing, and as you can see it is not an easy job! 

In Denmark, two larger supermarket chains (which accounts for more than 60% of the grocery market share) pulled Diet Coke plus from their shelves as it clashed with companies' policy and was felt to be misleading to customers. A spokesman for COOP Denmark (supermarket chain) stated that it was against company's policy to sell an unhealthy food product as if it were healthy. They don’t want to give the impression to the consumer that soft drinks are a healthy thing.

After this response from the grocery stores, the Coca-Cola company should reflect more about their marketing actions, after all, if they cannot convince retailers, how they are going to convince customers?