What’s the Deal with Coca-Cola’s Milk Campaign?
Coca-Cola recently announced that they will be launching a new product some time next month after an extensive marketing campaign. While most people would expect Coca-Cola to issue a new soda or sports drink, they are actually creating their own milk brand called Fairlife. This certainly seems like odd branding from a company known for sugary carbonated beverages, but Coca-Cola is hoping their strong reputation can help them with their new drink venture.
When Fairlife hits the store shelves some time in late March or early April, it will carry a price that is nearly twice as much as regular milk. The national average for a half gallon of milk is just over $2, but Coca-Cola’s new Fairlife milk will cost between $4 and $4.20 for a half gallon. While the price is certainly going to keep a lot of people away from the new milk, Coca-Cola is hoping they can intrigue millions that are looking for more nutrition in their milk.
The new milk by Coca-Cola goes through a cold filtration process to increase the protein by approximately 50 percent over regular milk. Coke’s new milk will also have 30 percent more calcium and half of the sugars of the regular milk you are drinking now. The cold filtration process also brings the added benefit of removing the lactose, which opens the new product to a much wider demographic. Despite this new cold filtration process, Fairlife is still real milk. Coca-Cola will still have to rely on cows to produce an important part of their product, so they will not be putting an end to the farming industry if the product becomes a massive hit.
There are currently four different flavor options being created by Coca-Cola. The four flavor options include whole milk, 2% reduced fat milk, skim milk and chocolate. Based on these four options it is clear that Coca-Cola is not trying to reinvent milk. They are simply looking to add a premium option for those interested in the extra nutrition.
Coca-Cola has started sending out samples of their new milk for reviewers to taste test. Nearly every review has said Fairlife tastes almost exactly like regular milk. Since there is not much of a difference in flavor, Coca-Cola’s best options to have their milk become successful is to market it towards the health conscious. People are going to be extremely interested in a more nutritious milk, but it will take time to see if Coca-Cola can succeed without a drastic change in flavor.
MSL Group, Porter Novelli & Burson-Marsteller are some of the many Public Relations consultants to represent Coca-Cola.
