Why can't half-baked cola launch campaigns come with zero sackings?
The Australian media seems to have finally caught a whiff of the not-quite-right pong emanating from The Zero Movement HQ. According to their blog, the marketing mag B&T will be running a story on The Zero Movement (and the subsequent backlash) in their next issue.
But of even greater interest was this little snippet of info that appeared in today’s Crikey subscribers mailout. (For non-Australians or non-media/politics-types out there, Crikey is to Down Under what the Drudge Report is to the US: good reporting and industry gossip that more often than not hits the mark). According to an anonymous informer at Coca-Cola:
Many thanks to the Crikey subscriber who tipped us off about this tidbit via email at thezeromovementsucks@gmail.com. (We're lowly squatters ourselves, but are desperately saving up for a full-blown subscription, promise!) If you see any other references to Coke Zero in the media, or you work at Coke or one its agencies and want to unburden yourself of gossip, support or venom, drop us a line! We'd love to hear from you.
But of even greater interest was this little snippet of info that appeared in today’s Crikey subscribers mailout. (For non-Australians or non-media/politics-types out there, Crikey is to Down Under what the Drudge Report is to the US: good reporting and industry gossip that more often than not hits the mark). According to an anonymous informer at Coca-Cola:
The launch of Coke Zero is causing major problems within Coke. We started with a viral teaser campaign called the zero movement which has totally backfired – consumer backlash may cost the PR firm and the marketing personnel responsible dearly. All you have to do is Google it to find all the reactions. Also the trade is lukewarm to the product after the disaster of Coke Lime and also after finding out Coke Zero failed in the US. We have forcibly allocated massive amounts of stock (supermarkets say too much) and there are some nervous store managers out there. We are also scared that our marketing dept and ad agencies have lost the plot after a string of below average ads and terrible program sponsorship decisions (eg X factor). There is no confidence that the Zero launch will get any better. And forward orders for regular Coke and Diet Coke are more than 50% down leading alot of us to believe that we are just going to cannabilise our own sales, instead of going after Pepsi who are doing very well at the moment stealing our share with great advertising but Coke head office does nothing!
posted by Jay at 7:41 PM
43 Comments:
call me the coke mole and trust me jay + zed (j+z?), shit is hitting the proverbial fan here at coke. we've already got bets going here at work about how many months it'll take for the lads upstairs to pull coke zero from the shelves ... and its new nickname here? NC2 (new coke ii).
Absolutely hilarious! $18 million + 2 agencies + 1 army of creativity-free hacks + 1 patronising website + 1 lame-arse campaign + 2 or 3 pissed off bloggers = $0 in Coke Zero sales. 10/10 guys!
spare a thought for those poor dyudes that were given the job of filling youth message boards and online forums with postings from 'the zero movement' . it must be at times like that their exciting career in pr was looking a little less glamorous. bourbon anyone?
Coke: worst. campaign. ever.
Won't you guys feel guilty if people get sacked over this mess?
hah no - they can go work for pepsi!!
It offends me when companies try and pretend their cool like this. Coke, listen to me: you are not my friend, you are not my mentor, you are the corporation that makes flavoured water. That's your lot in life. Learn to live with it.
No Sugar???
So what have they replaced it with??
Aspatame -Additive 951.
Developed in the "60's as a chemical warfare NeuroToxin!!!!!
Do your own search on this stuff--you'll never ear sugarless gum again.
No Sugar???So what have they replaced it with??Aspatame -Additive 951.Developed in the "60's as a chemical warfare NeuroToxin!!!!!Do your own search on this stuff--you'll never ear sugarless gum again.
Why is no one upset with the fact that sugar free is poison?
Dear Coca Cola.
You make fizzy drink.
It's not cool. It's not hip. It's not special.
It's fizzy drink.
A faux "underground movement" just makes you look phoney. Your ad agency and marketing people must spend too much time locked in conference rooms, convincing eachother that dumb ideas are fabulous ideas. And if you think that all the "controvesy" over the zero movement is going to shift the stock on the shelves, you're sooo wrong. Fizzy drink with artificial sweetener HOW ORIGINAL!!
MAHAHAAAAAAA
When I first saw all that zero movement shite, it reeked of big business marketing. I didn't know what the product was, but I knew didn't care. I knew they were trying to sell me SOME crap I didn't want. All those 'hip' musings on 'contemporary' life, the ‘elusive’ message, the 'urban' design, PLEASE.
I mean I thought there was a collective understanding that the 'Gabbo is coming' technique was thankfully and rightfully in the redundant bin, never to return.
Who do these people think they are? We KNOW about communication people! We know all your pissy strategies and lame branding techniques. We see straight through it all and see the insecure little boys and girls playing Boardroom behind it.
Personally I think labelling this slop as 'viral' is too flattering. It's just plain unimaginative.
And no, Mr Zerocreativity you patronising arse, any publicity ISN'T always good publicity. I'm not going to buy any more of your toxic waste than I ever would have before.
oh and ps.
What is just as lame is KNOWING those sad little sh*t kickers over at Pepsi Max are all like "YES! How can we ride this baby home??"
I have no doubt they are reading all this and smacking their lips.
Yes, I'm talking about you
Bugger off. Or we'll get started on you
Get started on Pepsi...are u serious? How many of these comments do you think are from the jerks at Pepsi in the first place....most of them I bet. I think they have been riding this from the start and loving it. But they need to be very careful..it's going to bite them like it's bitten Coke. Meanwhile...I know a store manager at Coles who told me that Zero is a huge hit...they cant get enough of it apparently. If you doubt this ask the supermarkets themselves (i.e dont believe anonymous' posts). So shite campaign or not, the stuffs selling. Suggest you stop giving them all this free publicity.
The Zero Movement makes me want to vomit almost as much as Coke Zero.
i don't think pepsi would be stupid enough to copy coke zero's strategy and try a viral campaign on pepsi max.
infact i think that coke zeros disaster of a launch has pretty much ruled out viral / teaser campaigns for the rest of the year - so thanks coke!!
um, dear coke rep (mr anon @ 4:41pm) slagging the pepsi 'jerks' lol r u pissed off cos they do 1/2 marketing campaigns compared to you??!! lmao
anyway in response to your little tantrum;
it is way to early to call sales, cos zero is only selling because:
1) Coke has slashed prices by over 50% in coles, woolies and all other supermarkets -> to get people to try zero
and
2) they have paid BIG coin to get massive displays in all the supermarkets
once all these come down and the launch is over only then will we see how they have done...
oh by the way it tastes like crap
Hey sharapova, Mr Anon @ 4.41pm here. It may surprise you to know that I agree with your points. At least some of them. It is too early to tell how this stuff will sell longer term. All I said was that it seems to be selling now. I dont think it took Coke long to figure out that the lime Coke was a flop, so I assume they will know just as quickly if Zero is a hit or not. As for my 'tantrum', I am just sick and tired of all this carry on about a marketing campaign for a soft drink. Call me crazy, but I think there are more important issues in the world right now. Whether you think this is good for them or not, marketing 101 tells me that when you launch a new product, especially a mass market product like Zero, you want everybody to know about it. Sites like this have helped spread the word...even if the word was intended to be disparaging. I actually like the taste of Zero, and for my money it's better than diet Coke or Pepsi Max. But that's just me. Oh, and I'm not a Coke rep. Not even close. But judging from your insights into Coke's pricing in supermarkets and how much they have paid for their displays it would seem that you are pretty close to the industry yourself. Hmmmm.
I think the biggest problem for Coke is that Zero tastes so revolting, and I say that as a male addicted to low-cal colas.
Lately I've been taking a 1.25 litre bottle of chilled water to work with me in a bid to wean myself off aspartame drinks. After 20+ years of consuming Coke & Pesi's chemical concoctions I've re-discovered the fact there's nothing so refreshing as water .. and it's free (well, so far).
i don't work 4 coke or pepsi but can confirm the hot miss sharapova's comments, -> coke r throwin money @ the retailers to get their zero up plus discounting to levels coke never go 2 to try and get ppl to try it. of course they r going to get ppl to try with those kinda prices!
any person who works in fmcg can confirm how coke hav blocked all of us out of jan activity with their massive $ 'donations' to coles & woolies (sour grapes - yes!!)
btw - coke lime didn't hav the promo pricing suport or a 18million launch behind it so it was realised as a total dog way early on. we will have to wait 4 a couple of months before zeros verdict is up...
i don't work 4 coke or pepsi but can confirm the hot miss sharapova's comments, -> coke r throwin money @ the retailers to get their zero up plus discounting to levels coke never go 2 to try and get ppl to try it. of course they r going to get ppl to try with those kinda prices!
any person who works in fmcg can confirm how coke hav blocked all of us out of jan activity with their massive $ 'donations' to coles & woolies (sour grapes - yes!!)
btw - coke lime didn't hav the promo pricing suport or a 18million launch behind it so it was realised as a total dog way early on. we will have to wait 4 a couple of months before zeros verdict is up...
all illegal and sh#$thouse marketing aside i agree with mister riddles their biggest problem is that zero tastes like sh#$te!!
coke zero = diet coke
diet coke = tastes like crap
therefore coke zero does too
i haven't found one person who actually likes it -> apart from the coke rep on this forum heh heh
Oddly enough I liked Lime Coke... not quite as much as real coke, but more than any other shite cola I've come across. That said, nothing and nobody is gonna make me drink a sweet drink with no real (natural, healthy in small doses) sugar in it, it's not healthy, it's not cool, and neither is the advertising.
I'll still drink Coke before Pepsi any day, but I won't be fooled into buying disputed neurotoxins loaded with caffiene, that'll still rot your teeth but without giving you energy to burn.
Wikipedia tells me these additives are likely unabsorbed by our system (hence I guess the neurotoxin may not harm us), that means we're not getting any energy out of them by breaking the molecular bonds down as we digest, like with natural sugars. I need my energy, and I want it to taste good and at least not pretend to be healthy when it isn't.
its funny that to state a point of view on here now we all have to preface it with i'm not a pepsi or coke or wollies or coles or any said affiliation rep but here is my point of view. I think some of us are right in that i rekon pepsi have probably fanned the flames a bit on here and other sites. still for me i never saw the major uproar. call my cynical but i just assumed it was advertising, i mean what kind of movement asks for real taste and zero sugar.... please. and really so what? should coke have been up front about the whole anonymous website launch? yeah probably, but if it was called the playstation movement or the ipod movement wouldn't we have figured it out too? i mean we all sit here saying we all knew it was for coke zero so maybe that was the whole point. hell two weeks on from the launch of the product and we're still talking about it. And i bet we've all tried it too - and dare i say i don't mind it. it seems to be selling really well but time will tell if its a success, but if months down the tracks we find out it is a flop we'll all be claiming victory, but if its a success do we give them credit? i doubt it but it would be kinda hypocritical not to.
well my next 2.2c worth
choke have actively promoted the act of graffiti and illegal billboarding all around the city (Melb)
they have put up posters around unis, rail lines and anywhere else they can be seen.
the VicGov are getting tough on street graffiti for the CommGame$ yet corporations are getting away with this everyday.
their identity is clear yet no one chases after them to clean up the mess (yes ive got heaps of photos of the sites)
now they 'promote' bus surfing to flog a drink (even after kids are injured on trains - http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/train-surfer-electrocuted/2006/01/31/1138590467085.html)
ffs its flavoured water and it tastes crap...
MitH
oh man this is getting ridiculous now... we're sounding like a bunch of whining babies.
Mith stated that : "choke have actively promoted the act of graffiti and illegal billboarding all around the city (Melb)".
Well a mate of mine was part of the team they got to do the posters and graffiti and she said the graffiti or "chalking" as they call it now was all above board, with permits and stuff and its all biodegradable and washes away. As for the billboards coke aren't the first - hell look at any concert promoter out there they're everywhere.
And as for "now they 'promote' bus surfing to flog a drink (even after kids are injured on trains)" man the ads been on air for a few weeks now so its not like they have just done it.
What started out like a good blog on here is getting pathetic and whiney . a lot to do about nothing especially a "flavoured water that tastes like crap".
Lmao! I point and laugh in your general directions.
Spammers UNITE!
We love Coke!
We love Coke!
We love Coke!
We love Coke!
coke's 2nd viral wave - assigning coke reps to hit the blogs in defence of their awful tv ad and product HAH HAH HAH
we hate coke zero
we hate coke zero
we hate coke zero
we hate coke zero
:-)
We saw this exact same thing before the Blair Witch Project movie came out. It sucked so many people in thinking it was real. The it turned out to be all bullshit. The only difference between Blair Witch and Coke is, it actually worked for Blair Witch.
I am angry at coke because of this!
this kind of tease campaigns been around for ages and now domino's pizza just did the same thing with their sopuff.com ads and website - no mention of it being domino's pizza but trying to get us all to start saying things are soooooo puff.
Yeah, Dave'll show you guys just how cool Coca Cola is.
You'll be sorry!
ps COKE ZERO IS THE BEST DRINK EVA! So what if it causes brain tumours? You want to live forever or die suddenly but painfully when part of your brain collapses? I know what I'd choose. COKE ZERO AND THE BRAIN TUMOUR!
Dudes, don't be a downer man.
Go to, like, the real site, where you can see someone who's like not at all speaking on behalf of Coke talking about his love life and calling women, like, SLUTS.
Is that, like, part of the blokey-cool rad image of the new drink?
I don't know, but be cool and keep an open mind, dudes and dudettes...don't go saying anything nasty.
An important message from me!
Coke Zero rocks.
I've noticed it is very popular. People are buying it just as much as regular coke. Diet coke has taken a nose dive in popularity.
Now over to you, Ray.
All coke employees have been told to go out and hit all blogs
Looks like they got this one.
Ya'll be dick heads.
I ain't no coke employee, ya'll.
Kiss ma ass, most of these comments are my own.
You have no idea the people you are affecting. Coke may be a multinational, but the people who work for them are just trying to pay their bills like everyone else.
Your hate campaign is NOT going to affect Coke. It's going to affect the people employed by Coke. Some of whom, have already been affected in very negative ways.
I love you cokewhore :)
Well, its kinda amusing, to see you all upset over a product, and worse, a soft drink. The fact is, your overwhelming "hate" is generating a response, one of publicity, and in all forms, any publicity is good publicity. So to you Anonymous, your a Coke Zero benefactor. And who cares? really? a vendetta against a soft drink? cant pick a proper fight? typical, whine and complain, too bad you've purchased the product, and fanned the "tasting" flames. And if a neurotoxin was soooo deadly, why is it approved? Mind you, ill keep this simple for you, these are all rhetorical questions, i dont need your answer because you'll loop it up in a never ending circle, and arjous task at that. The fact is, Coke Zero, like it or not, is STILL on the shelves, and the campaign has salvaged the Coke label. Your just a whiny individual. ITS A BLOODY DRINK!
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