In its newest limited-edition release, Coca-Cola aims to attract the gaming community with a flavor designed to taste like experience points, or “+XP,” according to Marketing Dive.
The drink will be called Coke Ultimate Zero Sugar and is being made in partnership with League of Legends developer Riot Games. It will be available beginning June 12 in U.S. and Canadian stores, according to CBS News.
“The packaging comes with QR codes that open the Coca-Cola Creations Hub for digital experiences, which has added an Instagram filter that lets visitors view themselves as League of Legends emotes,” according to Marketing Dive.
Our brand strategist, Frankie Pike, tried it with their face, and this is what they got.
In the last year and a half, Coca-Cola has released a series of ineffable flavors—including Starlight, Dreamworld, and Byte—targeting Gen Z consumers.
“They’re mystery flavors,” said Oana Vlad, senior director of global strategy at Coca-Cola, to CBS. “The flavor profile is always, we say, 85% to 90% Coke. And then that 10% to 15% twist of something unexpected.”
The approach seems to be effective, as net Coca-Cola sales increased 12 percent and gross profit increased 23 percent in Q1 of 2023 compared to 2022, according to Coca-Cola’s press release.
How Duolingo Used TikTok To Strengthen its Brand
Duolingo’s legendary TikTok has 6.7 million followers. In a recent interview, Duolingo Head of Social Media Zara Parvez broke down how the team did it.
These are our big takeaways:
- Ignore traditional marketing rules and just make fun content.
- Always innovate. What went viral one time won’t necessarily work again.
- Don’t forget to track ROI.
- And go bold or go home.
Other news
- LinkedIn—a Microsoft subsidiary —is now offering OpenAI-powered suggestions of different ad copies.
- Amazon is working on a Prime Video ad tier similar to Netflix’s.
- Microsoft is rolling out a conversion tracking model update this month that aims to track cross-device attribution.
- Salesforce released a generative AI tool for marketers.
- A new report suggests that shoppers trust UGC content over influencers.
That’s all for this week’s Marketing Roundup. Check back in next Friday for more news. And subscribe to our newsletter below for additional updates.
