The explosion of the market for coffee beverages can be seen in the responses to the mere mention of the name Starbucks. Recent trends in the United States among consumers regarding beverages have notably included both coff ee drinks and energy drinks. How do beverage companies that are not typically in the market of coff ee beverages compete? Specialty coff ee drinks are a $10 billion a year industry in the United States and are expected to continue growing at a rate of approximately 7%. Therefore, targeting those in the group that are the heaviest consumers of specialty coff ee drinks would be logical. Coca-Cola has been a part of American culture for over a century. The product’s image is graven deeply in American hearts regardless of consumer segmentation. Using brand recognition, Coca-Cola introduced Coca-Cola BlãK in an attempt to gain a share of the coffee market. From the beginning in April of 2006, Coca-Cola BlãK has been available at supermarkets and convenience retail stores nationwide, in both individual bottles and four-packs. They target adult consumers. According to Coca-Cola North America, “There is no other beverage available today quite like Coca-Cola BlãK. Imagine the refreshing taste of an ice-cold Coca-Cola that finishes with a rich essence of coffee. Only Coca-Cola can deliver that distinct combination of flavors.” Coca-Cola BlãK has the texture of coffee and a cappuccino style that will compete against Pepsi Max Cino. By focusing on the innovative idea of combining coffee with the classic beverage, the company tries to appeal to the wider range of the market as a new category of soft drink. According to Brian Tracy, a business editor at MSNBC, the target market is the Starbucks and Red Bull consumers. Advertising messages with sophisticated and stylish graphics were employed to attract adult consumers. Marketing supports for the new brand began with a teaser television ad, which aired during the live Red Carpet preshow broadcast of the 78th Annual Academy Awards® on ABC. The 15-second commercial titled “POParazzi” presented Coca-Cola BlãK as a glamorous star appearing before throngs of media, complete with flashing camera lights. Beginning the following April in cities across the United States, additional support for the brand consisted of a fully integrated program featuring both traditional and nontraditional media, including television, print, and outdoor advertising, in-store displays, and targeted sampling programs designed to engage consumers and pique their interest in Coca-Cola BlãK. It is apparent that the product is advertised as a premium blend—something that is high-class but that can be purchased by anyone. If Coca-Cola gets high-class personalities to promote the product, it will be successful. In America, people don’t mind spending a few extra dollars to have what they believe is a quality product. If high-power celebrities endorse Coca-Cola BlãK, people’s attitudes can be positive toward the image of this unknown product. Coca-Cola Classic doesn’t have that many advertisements anymore because everyone knows what Classic tastes like and it has been a valued drink for several decades. However, Coke needs to make sure they start their new product off on the right foot with immense advertising efforts, showing in an ad how much BlãK helps the average person to stay awake and keeps him or her focused on the task at hand. Again, it all falls back on the belief that this product tastes good and that people don’t mind spending the extra cents on a beverage that actually will help them through the day. The biggest challenge Coca-Cola BlãK is going to face is that coffee and cola together might not sound very appealing to many consumers. Many people may prefer either the coffeehouse flavor or the flavor of original Coca-Cola alone, but not necessarily together. For example, cola/coffee drink mixes are not a new concept. In the mid-1990s, Pepsi Kona, Java Cola, and Café Cola were introduced, but they did not gain the attention of consumers and disappeared from the market. While incorporating the CocaCola brand name, Coca-Cola BlãK needs different positioning between the soft drink and coffee markets. As Coca-Cola instilled a fresh image to consumers in the past, Coca-Cola BlãK might need a new concept of drink in this new area.

Questions

1. If you are in charge of the marketing strategy for Coca-Cola BlaK in America, who should be your target consumers? Why?

2. What kinds of advertising messages would appeal to the target consumer to cause an attitude change toward Coca-Cola BlaK?

3. Compared to ordinary Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola BlãK is expensive ($1.99). How should Coca-Cola BlãK be positioned? MINIMUM 500 WORDS.