In recent years, Coca-Cola has seemingly focused on novelty soda offerings. That has included a number of tie-ins with celebrities.
The soda brand, for example, kicked off those efforts with a limited-edition Coca-Cola created with the famed music producer and DJ Marshmello. That drink, which mixed strawberry and watermelon flavors with the classic Coke taste, was sold in slim cans designed to pay tribute to the artist's iconic helmet.
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That was followed by other limited-time offers that were more publicity stunt than brand expansion. Most recently, that included Coca-Cola Y3000 Zero Sugar, which was co-created with human and artificial intelligence.
Coca-Cola has literally created the "Creations" brand to house these novelty sodas designed to generate media and social-media attention. The line also included Coca-Cola Starlight, a soda that was apparently inspired by space.
“Experimenting with such an iconic brand requires a big leap of faith,” said Coca-Cola's senior brand strategy director, Oana VLad, in a news release.
“It all started by asking ourselves how we could bring the magic and mystery of the cosmos to life, sip by sip, in a quintessentially Coke way. We set out to make the intangible tangible.”
That sounds nice, but the company didn't likely have big hopes that "Space Coke" would be a major sales driver. The company, however, has decided to return to its roots and is launching two new core flavors unveiled at the recent National Association of Convenience Stores trade show.
Image source: Coca-Cola
Meet the new Coke and Sprite flavors
Coca-Cola plans to launch a new line under its core brand. Dubbed, "Spiced" Coke, the new product was first reported by the Snackolator Instagram page.
"Here's that national alert you've been hearing about! Coca-Cola is bringing the Spice with new 'Spiced' Coke in both regular and zero sugar!" the social-media influencer posted.
"Details are still pretty limited on this one since it was just announced at this year's NACS show, but it will be available in both regular and zero sugar and has a 'Raspberry Spiced' flavor."
Coke, he noted, has not explained what it means by "Spiced."
Snackolator also broke news about the latest Sprite flavor.
"New Sprite Chill was just announced for next year! This was revealed at the NACS show and features a Cherry Lime taste," Snackolator posted. "I am really curious to see how this differs from Cherry Sprite or Cherry 7-up, but I am definitely wanting to give this a try."
Coca-Cola has big plans for Coke
With global soda consumption at an all-time high, Coca-Cola sees an opportunity to expand its namesake brand. Chief Executive James Quincey discussed the matter during the company's second-quarter-earnings call.
"Starting with Coca-Cola. We are growing our base of Gen Z drinkers, gaining share, and leveraging our scale to drive efficiencies across our system," he said,
The company has also used promotions to excite consumers worldwide about the brand.
"During the quarter, we gained volume and value share by linking Coca-Cola to consumption occasions and engaging consumers through local experiences. A great example is our Recipe for Magic, which was activated in more than 50 markets and celebrates consuming Coca-Cola with meals," he shared.
That promotion varied based on the market.
"For instance, in the away-from-home channel in Italy, Coca-Cola has grown incidence with pizza, the No. 1 consumed meal with approximately 3 billion pizzas each year, from 10% to 20% over the past four years," he added.
