The launch of Coca-Cola Zero in July last year was billed as the most significant addition to the Coke brand portfolio since Diet Coke's launch in 1984.
Yet 20 months after its debut, Coca-Cola has started looking for an alternative to the variant's initial 'bloke Coke' positioning (Marketing, 7 November).
Coca-Cola invested £10m in marketing the product to young men as it sought to take on Pepsi Max, which has a similar masculine positioning. At the time, Coca-Cola claimed that the brand would become as big as Diet Coke within 10 years.
Although the brand is still in its infancy, Coke Zero has some way to go if it is to achieve this goal. It has grown its share by only 2.8% to 5.3% for the year to 8 September, still trailing Pepsi Max's 7.9% share of the cola market, according to Nielsen.
In the first 16 weeks following its launch, Coke Zero achieved UK sales of £24.1m, although some put this down to heavy discounting and the short-term novelty factor. Also, 62% of Coca-Cola Zero's volume sales for its first 12 weeks on the market were cannibalised from its sister variants, according to Nielsen, with 32% taken from Diet Coke and 30% from regular Coke.
Coca-Cola is now rethinking its global strategy for Coke Zero, shifting its focus to the product's benefits. Coca-Cola says that Zero is aimed at those who want the full Coke taste but with zero calories; experts believe consumers are confused by the proposition.
'Both are sugar-free, but Max is closer to Pepsi in taste than Zero is to regular Coke,' said one drinks expert.
Marc Lawn, head of marketing services at Britvic, claimed: 'Pepsi Max is outperforming Coke Zero as it makes life easier for consumers to understand what it is.'
Moreover, insiders suggested Zero's male-oriented advertising had not gone down well with cola drinkers.
Coca-Cola Zero's launch TV campaign aroused the wrath of tall people and women's groups with its 'Gigs without tall people' and 'Girlfriends without a five-year plan' straplines. It was also forced to withdraw an execution that used the strapline 'Blind dates without the psychos' after complaints from mental health charities (Marketing, 26 July 2006).
While Pepsi Max has become Pepsi's lead brand, Coca-Cola Zero is far from overtaking Diet Coke, which accounts for 34.2% of the cola market.
Last summer, Britvic launched its biggest sampling drive for Pepsi Max and a 'No substitute for Pepsi Max' press campaign in response to the introduction of Coke Zero. Next year it will promote the variant through integrated activity tied to music and football.
With Pepsi Max's 15-year heritage to compete with, Coca-Cola will have to position Zero effectively to ensure it remains on supermarket shelves.
'Observations of brands in similar situations suggest that the solution is in driving clarity of brand proposition,' said Lawn.
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