Let Coca-Cola take the big chances, and then learn from their results. Today, we study the case of changing color and the white cans. A couple of years ago Coca-Cola decided to create a holiday campaign that turned the can white and silver with only a limited amount of the traditional ‘Coca-Cola red’. Their goal was to create awareness in order to raise funds for the protection of polar bears. This created an uproar in the strong Coca-Cola following who claimed the can was too similar to Diet Coke, with some customers even claiming it caused confusion in taste between the two drinks.
Historically, Coca-Cola has created iconic holiday changes to the can, with the recent use of polar bears and Santa, however each year the ‘Coca-Cola red’ remained prominent. The biggest learning point- a definition of color for your brand or company is important to brand identity. Coca-Cola spent billions ensuring their red is recognizable from afar and the failure of the white can proved that the Coca-Cola red is still important and demanded by consumers. Ultimately this failure acted as a proof and testament to the strength of the brand identity that Coca-Cola have already created! Color, through association, can even alter the mind’s perception of flavor, as some avid Coke consumers claim.
Take it from the consumers of Coca-Cola, be aware of your brand’s color relationship. To start, make sure your PMS color is defined, and decide what feeling you want to create. Then identify rules of use. If you would like, 360 Direct can help you sort through all of the “if this” and “then thats”, so that you can go grab and enjoy a Coke.