Last Friday, B&T published the annual 100 coolest brands loved by Millennials by US ad agency Moosylvania. Among a number of interesting results, good-old Coca-Cola came in at number five.
And it appears it’s not Coke’s signature sugary beverage that’s winning over the Ys, but the brand’s continued branching out into new streams such as water and ready-made coffee and tea drinks.
Last week, Coca-Cola Amatil in Australia announced a six months to June profit of $198.2 million, primarily on the back of sales of bottled water, as its fizzy drinks category continued to fizz.
However, the next big move for the brand is set to be into the $US2 billion pre-packaged coffee market which as grown by a reported 91 per cent in the US over the past 15 years. It’s expected to be worth $2.3 billion market by 2020.
Many pundits believe that sugar is fast over-taking tobacco as “public health enemy number one”, which means even more bad news for Coke’s staple of fizzy drinks.
It follows on from reports on B&T last week that it’s all about ease and convenience for the Ys with canned wine touted as the “next big thing” for a generation who can’t be bothered with bottles and bottle openers.
According to media reports, Coke blames coffee chains such as Starbucks for pinching its once-loyal caffeine addicts. Apparently, we’d rather queue-up for a Starbucks Hazelnut caramel mocha with chocolate espresso whipped cream than down a can of Coke. We still want caffeine, sugar and bubbles, not just in soft drink form. Interestingly, Starbucks polled an impressive 12th on the brands Millennials love list.
In the US, Coca-Cola has worked hard to develop its ready-to-drink tea brands such as Gold Peak and Fuze Tea and its next move will be to develop similar ready-to-drink products but with coffee. In the US, Coca-Cola has already invested heavily into partnerships with coffee suppliers.
