Coke lends Zero Sugar a voice in ads, TikTok filter soundtracked by NSYNC

Dive Brief:

• Coke is lending Coke Zero Sugar a voice for the first time with a global campaign leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) technology, per details shared with Marketing Dive. The effort serves to update Coke’s “Best Coke Ever?” platform backing Zero Sugar.
• The soft drink brand analyzed 100,000 images of condensation, bubbles and airborne fizz with the aid of an object detection algorithm to develop a custom typography that allows Zero Sugar to “speak for itself,” the company said. Consumers can also create their own tracks using organic sounds like a Coke can cracking open.  
• A new hero ad is soundtracked by NSYNC’s “It’s Gonna Be Me” and stars chatty bottles and cans of Coke Zero Sugar. The marketer is also deploying a world-first TikTok filter that transforms users into a Coke Zero Sugar bottle that can sing along with the boy band bop that harks back to the early 2000s. 

Dive Insight:

Coke is passing the mic to Zero Sugar as the low-calorie beverage continues to be a leading growth driver for the soft drink giant. The tech-forward marketing play is the latest iteration of a “Best Coke Ever?” messaging platform introduced in 2021 that puts Zero Sugar more forward in the company’s cola portfolio. This go-around, Coke is angling to connect with Gen Z consumers who have flocked to apps like TikTok and expressed a fondness for Y2K throwbacks, hence the nod to the 2000 mega-hit “It’s Gonna Be Me” by NSYNC. WPP’s Open X agency, led by AKQA and Ogilvy, spearheaded the campaign.

“This is our most digital and social-first initiative to-date, featuring an exciting nod to nostalgia with a campaign anthem that’s already back on the lips of people around the world, but leveraged in a truly forward-thinking way,” said Oana Vlad, senior director of global strategy for The Coca-Cola Company, in a press statement. 

Coke continues to experiment with applications of AI in marketing, building on its early bets on generative AI last year. In this case, a version of AI technology called an object detection algorithm was used to closely analyze the physical traits of Coke bottles to design a typography that could properly embody Zero Sugar’s voice.  

That concept is made literal in a batch of new “Taste That Speaks For Itself” digital ads that feature talking Coke Zero Sugar products as they vie to get picked up at a bodega, argue during a dinner for two and try to keep a streaming platform running after the viewer falls asleep on the couch. Coke is allowing consumers to embody Zero Sugar through a TikTok filter, which will be promoted with the help of influencer partners on the ByteDance-owned platform. 

Additional media elements span experiential sampling that includes a new type of digital vending machine; digital display and non-traditional out-of-home ads that showcase the typography and other sampling opportunities; and in-store promotions that aim to stop shoppers in their tracks through “disruptive” methods like motion sensors and sound effects.

A bigger marketing push behind Zero Sugar adds to a steady drip of Coke news this year. Next week, the brand will launch the first permanent addition to its cola portfolio in three years, a raspberry-flavored variant called Coca-Cola Spiced, which comes in zero- and full-sugar versions. The company’s Creations platform focused on limited-run experimental flavors also remains active, with the next drop centered on a soda that intends to capture the taste of tears of joy and also leans into the popularity of TikTok.  

Coke saw net revenue up 7% year-over-year to $10.8 billion in the fourth quarter, per an earnings statement released Tuesday. Volumes slipped in North America, a crucial market, but the results were buoyed by higher prices.