Coca-Cola Goes White

There is a short list of brands that seem to keep popping up not only in my blog but also in the minds of Americans as iconic brands, and certainly Coca-Cola is one of them.  I follow the cola wars religiously, and the beverage industry in general because there's great marketing initiatives coming from those brands all the time.

The latest is the new Coca-Cola white can, a project with the World Wildlife Fund to help save the polar bear, an icon of the brand since 1922.

The new can is meant to raise awareness and encourage consumer donations to help the WWF save the Artic region.  With every can purchased, consumers can text the special code from the packaging to donate an additional $1.00 to WWF ... Coca-Cola will match each donation until $2million is raised for the WWF.

This is the first time that the brand is walking away from its signature red packaging, but for good reason.  The polar bear's Artic home is in trouble, and Coca-Cola is not only uniquely suited to help, it's also a nostalgic part of the brand equity.

Signature Coca-Cola isn't the only brand to go "white" ... other Coca-Cola products will start to don white caps as well including bottles of Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, and Nestea.

You can find out more at the WWF's Artic Home webpage.

Brands like Coca-Cola take these kinds of signature changes seriously.  I love that Coca-Cola is taking a bold move to drive awareness and raise money.  A very positive initiative in the cola wars and the war against Global Warming.

What's your experience?  Jim.

Jim Joseph
President of Lippe Taylor
Author of The Experience Effect
Professor at NYU

I'd like to thank Frozen Sunshine for the inspiration of today's blog post.  Thanks for reading!