SYDNEY: Coca-Cola believes there is a crossover between consumers of ginger ale and colas and has launched Coca-Cola Ginger in time for the Australian summer.
The soft drinks giant's research has indicated that almost 70% of ginger beer and ginger ale shoppers also buy cola products and the introduction of the limited-edition flavour taps into a growing market for ginger-related products.
Australian Food News noted recent major investment in Buderim Group, Australia's largest ginger producer, which over the past two years has shifted its focus away from commodity product into branded products, including ginger-flavoured carbonated drinks which constitute an A$80m market across the country.
Coca-Cola is hoping its new product will attract the curious – young adults and occasional or lapsed Coke drinkers are the target market – and lead to "taste reappraisal" across all its products.
"We are confident the new flavour will be perfect for our audience, with research revealing that ginger is particularly popular during the summer months," said Marina Rocha, Coca-Cola South Pacific Group Marketing Manager.
This marks the latest evolution of a strategy aimed at increasing the brand's relevance with particular target audiences.
The award-winning #colouryoursummer, for example, sought to change Australian teens' attitudes towards Coke and increase their engagement with the brand.
That summer campaign saw the introduction of a range of limited edition multi-coloured cans that teens could collect, play with and share. The cans doubled as readable codes that unlocked a hidden, colourful world of games, content and prizes via world-first image-recognition technology.
This summer's effort reverts to a simpler taste-driven approach, with packaging that differs only slightly from the usual Coca-Cola range, using gold-coloured bottle caps and labels to emphasise the exclusivity of the product.
But the brand's ambitions are high as it looks to "disrupt the market" using social and influencer channels and experiential marketing to reach its intended audience.
"Introducing Coca-Cola Ginger to market is the ideal way to spearhead our exciting and unexpected summer campaign that we're confident will capture the imagination of Australia," said Rocha.
The soft drinks giant's research has indicated that almost 70% of ginger beer and ginger ale shoppers also buy cola products and the introduction of the limited-edition flavour taps into a growing market for ginger-related products.
Australian Food News noted recent major investment in Buderim Group, Australia's largest ginger producer, which over the past two years has shifted its focus away from commodity product into branded products, including ginger-flavoured carbonated drinks which constitute an A$80m market across the country.
Coca-Cola is hoping its new product will attract the curious – young adults and occasional or lapsed Coke drinkers are the target market – and lead to "taste reappraisal" across all its products.
"We are confident the new flavour will be perfect for our audience, with research revealing that ginger is particularly popular during the summer months," said Marina Rocha, Coca-Cola South Pacific Group Marketing Manager.
This marks the latest evolution of a strategy aimed at increasing the brand's relevance with particular target audiences.
The award-winning #colouryoursummer, for example, sought to change Australian teens' attitudes towards Coke and increase their engagement with the brand.
That summer campaign saw the introduction of a range of limited edition multi-coloured cans that teens could collect, play with and share. The cans doubled as readable codes that unlocked a hidden, colourful world of games, content and prizes via world-first image-recognition technology.
This summer's effort reverts to a simpler taste-driven approach, with packaging that differs only slightly from the usual Coca-Cola range, using gold-coloured bottle caps and labels to emphasise the exclusivity of the product.
But the brand's ambitions are high as it looks to "disrupt the market" using social and influencer channels and experiential marketing to reach its intended audience.
"Introducing Coca-Cola Ginger to market is the ideal way to spearhead our exciting and unexpected summer campaign that we're confident will capture the imagination of Australia," said Rocha.
Data sourced from Australian Food News, Ad News; additional content by Warc staff
