I worry about the state of brands today. Sure, there are some actual brands out there doing what real brands are supposed to, but it’s vexing because most don’t. And it gets worse every year.
There was a time when all brands stood for something. Their slogans and taglines, their ads and commercials, all their marketing tactics reflected actual differentiated, positions in their category and the marketplace. They had meaning. Sure, the companies and ads go for awareness. And entertainment, mostly. And all those social networking posts and likes. But actual branding? Not so much these days.
How many times have you watched a commercial and thought, “What was that for?” or “That was a good commercial. I don’t know who they are or what they’re selling, but it made me laugh.” Or, mostly, “So what!?” That’s problematic. Doing outreach and advertising that engenders reactions like those that only result in awareness and/or entertainment or, worse, disinterest and/or confusion, only decreases your ability to be a brand.
Want to be a real “brand?” It takes work. You must stand for something in the mind of the consumer beyond just the category in which you compete. You need to meaningfully and emotionally differentiate yourself from your competition. If a consumer’s initial association about you is your category, you’re not a brand. You’ve regressed to become a Category Placeholder. Known but not known for anything in particular. I’ve written about this before, so this isn’t new, but still. For the uninitiated, the mass regressions of real brands to Category Placeholder began in the late-1980’s.
Look at the soft drink category. Personal taste notwithstanding, all soft drinks are cold, carbonated, and refreshing, with ubiquitous availability, price points, and size options. The big brands in the category all have universal awareness. Who they were and how they advertised used to shape the brand in the hearts and minds of consumers. Today. . .? Take Coca-Cola. They used to stand for something beyond the soft drink category. Not so much anymore. Not so much since 1987 or so. A brief trip in the Way-Back machine and a look at brand positionings-via-taglines may help.
Back in 1886 their slogan was “Drink Coca-Cola.” Not the most creative brand strategy in the world I’ll admit, but at least a direct appeal to consumers. Twenty years later it was “3 Million A Day,” so, OK, bragging rights. In 1922 it was “Thirst Knows No Season,” which was (and this is just conjecture on my part) probably a campaign looking to expand usage during the colder months. The slogan apparently worked because four years later the slogan was “6 Million A Day,” so a leadership grab for the brand. By 1959 the soda branded itself as the “Sign of Good Taste,” which (again, I’m kind of experience-extrapolating here) referred to the omnipresent metal Coca-Cola signs so popular in the ‘50’s and early ‘60’s and some sort of consumer self-esteem reinforcement.
A decade later Coca-Cola overhauled branding when research indicated young people (always a magic target audience!) wanted real, original, and natural, so they shifted branding to appeal to the values of contemporary youth. Thus, was born “It’s The Real Thing.” Ten years after that they went with “Have A Coke and A Smile,” which (in 1982) became “Coke Is It” (with a catchy theme song that tied back to the “Real Thing.”) In 1985 the tag was “America’s Real Choice,” an umbrella strategy for Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Classic. So, branding consistency, if not mind-blowing creative.
Then came the brand-to-category-placeholder tipping point. The Coca-Cola taglines became Catch the Wave, Refresh Everything, Life Tastes Good, You Can’t Beat the Feeling, More Happy, Official Drink of Summer, Obey Your Thirst, Live It Up, Be You, Always, Enjoy, Live For Now, Real, Make It Real, That’s What I Like, Open Happiness, Taste the Feeling, and Real Magic, their current tagline. (By the way, 4 of those taglines were for Pepsi, one for Dr. Pepper, one for Sprite, and one I completely made up! And if you couldn’t tell the difference or found them interchangeable that just proves my point. A brand really does needs to stand for something on its own!)
So, what did Coca-Cola do? They listened to William Cowper. No, not a brand or even a marketing guy. He was an 18th century poet (yeah, a little arcane but bear with me for a moment) who wrote, “Variety is the spice of life.” More specifically, he wrote, “Variety’s the spice of life, that gives it all its flavour.” And Coca-Cola jumped on that thought or something akin to it, less so as a branding strategy and (much) more as a marketing tactic and went with flavor variety. New flavored syrups were/are easy and literally overflowed onto supermarket shelves.
Estimates for the number of varieties introduced this century alone vary depending on how you count limited editions and regional variations, but there have been dozens of different versions of Coke like these: Classic, Light, Zero, Vanilla, Caffein Free, Cherry, Cherry Vanilla, Mango, Mango Light Taste, Cranberry, Ginger Lime Light Taste, Twisted Strawberry Light Taste, Peach Zero, Cherry Vanilla Zero, Cherry Zero, Starlight, Starlight Zero, Zero Sugar Byte (Pixel flavor), Spiced, Ginger Zero, Cinnamon Clear, Clear Lime, Plus, Coffee Vanilla, Coffee Dark Blend, Coffee Mocha, Coffee Caramel, Coffee Vanilla Zero, Happy Tears, and Dreamworld. BTW, I made up one of those flavors. But in the scheme of branding in soda world, does it matter to you at all?
And sure, there are several acceptable marketing foundations for relying on flavor marketing since it’s easy and versatile. Or can be. Limited edition or seasonal flavors can create buzz. Until everyone does it. (Pumpkin spice, anyone?) More flavors can mean more products on shelves. Again, marketing not branding. And, sure, people have diverse taste preferences, but you really can’t be all things to all people, especially if there’s no meaningful differentiation, and based on that list in the previous paragraph, probably shouldn’t. There are opportunities for cross-product promotions (Coca-Cola Oreo Zero Sugar anyone?), which provides content for marketing and social media, but – generally speaking – is a pretty crappy branding stratagem.
And, as it turns out, not even a practicable marketing tactic.
Coca-Cola Spice is being discontinued and pulled from the shelves after just six months after its debut. It was introduced in February, created to attract Gen-Z consumers, and was supposed to be a permanent addition to the Coca-Cola lineup. Alas, ‘twas not to be!
According to Coca-Cola’s North American Marketing VP, “Research found an increase in consumer willingness to try a spiced beverage” and “consumers are looking for more bold flavors and more complex flavor profiles” and “we thought that was a unique space for us to play in.” Apparently not. But nothing about brand. Be of stout heart, though, the company has vowed an “exciting” new flavor in 2025. Yay?
Coca-Cola did not specify exactly why it’s discontinuing Spice, although confusion about the flavor (“classic taste of Coca-Cola with refreshing bursts of raspberry and a curated blend of warm spiced flavors,” which wasn’t actually spicy) probably contributed to lackluster sales.
Some real branding might have helped. That just might have provided some real magic for them!
Photo by BOUSBIA KADHEM on Unsplash