Coca-Cola's C2 has been a long time in the making; When The Coca-Cola Co. develops a new cola...

The revolutionary nature of the new cola is reminiscent of the introduction of diet Coke 13 years ago, because the product answers long-standing consumer needs for a cola with fewer calories, less sugar and lowered carbohydrate levels.

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Although the concept

Coca-Cola developed C2 deliberately, to ensure that the new cola product would have staying power and find its own place in the cola category. As a result of a product development process emphasizing quality and taste, C2 has the potential to join the company's formidable product portfolio as a viable cola choice that delivers nutritional benefits and superior cola taste to a wide variety of consumer segments.

The product

Coca-Cola C2 is a cola product that offers less of the dietary components consumers are trying to avoid but all of the great cola taste they want. Each C2 cola has less sugar, calories and carbohydrates than a regular cola.

The nutritional breakdown of diet Coke is 0 calories per 12-ounce serving, with aspartame rather than sugar as the sweetener. A 12-ounce can of regular Coca-Cola Classic has 140 calories, 39 grams of sugar and 39 grams of carbohydrates. A 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola C2 contains 70 calories, 18 grams of sugar and 18 grams of carbohydrates, meaning that C2 has about 55 percent less sugar, carbohydrates and calories than Coca-Cola Classic.

"The product is the result of the strong desire on our part to deliver lower carbohydrates, calories and sugar in a cola product, while maintaining superior taste," says David Preston, senior brand manager at Coca-Cola, Atlanta. "Many consumers are eager to reduce the level of carbs, calories and sugar in their diet, but at the same time these consumers are loathe to give up taste."

Despite the crazy popularity of the Atkins diet, Coca-Cola maintains that C2 is not designed for Atkins or South Beach dieters. The 18 grams of carbohydrates in each 12-ounce C2 soda almost totals the maximum daily carbohydrate intake allowed consumers following the low-carb diets. Instead, the product has a broader target audience--those consumers who are looking for a lower calorie cola with all of the taste of a regular cola.

"C2 is not necessarily designed for the adherents of Atkins, and our development strategy was not about targeting consumers who are following the low-carbohydrate diet. The target audience for C2 is demographically defined as consumers moving into their 20s, all the way through their 40s, who are looking for cola alternatives that don't have all the calories, carbohydrates and sugars that regular colas have," says Preston. "So the key mandate in our development was to reduce those levels and also do everything possible to retain the taste that these consumers desire."

Coca-Cola envisions consumers incorporating C2 into their dietary habits in various ways. For some consumers, C2 might become a replacement for regular colas. For others, C2 might function as a supplement to regular cola consumption. But in particular, the company envisions that C2 might bring some users back into the category.

"Our goal is to use Coca-Cola C2 to recapture some of the consumers who have left the category over the years. Especially among consumers who 10 years ago may have had Coca-Cola Classic every day but now might only be drinking it a couple of times a week because they are trying to reduce the sugar or calories in their diet," says Preston. "For these consumers who have reduced their level of cola consumption, C2 gives them the freedom to recapture their desired level of cola consumption every day."

Under development

The company's R & D experts were involved with the development of C2 for an entire year. But the consumer desire for a cola with reduced sugar and calories has been around for much longer.

"Although currently the low-carbohydrate trend is big news, overall, consumers have been articulating cola needs that pointed to this opportunity for quite some time," says Preston. "The specific proposition of C2 was under development for one year, during which time we worked to ensure that we had a product that met our high quality and taste expectations."

Preston equates the timing of the C2 development and introduction to the timing of the diet Coke development and introduction. In the case of diet Coke, many diet sodas were already on the market when Coca-Cola developed and introduced diet Coke, a diet cola that the company felt was superior in quality and taste to the other available options. The company's bets were well placed, as diet Coke has become the No. 1 selling diet cola worldwide.

So also with C2, other colas with reduced sugar or calories may exist on the market, but now is the time when Coca-Cola felt they could develop a product that embodies the quality and taste that are hallmarks of the Coca-Cola brand name.

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"Our R & D and product development team for C2 was phenomenal--managing to remove half of the sugar and still deliver the same great taste, which is quite a feat. We have benefited from some new ingredients in the marketplace, but really the accomplishment is due to the experience of our R & D team," says Preston. "For a long time we had Coke and diet Coke, but not a whole lot else. But our R & D capability has increased tremendously in the past few years, and these folks have become very adept with new product development and we have introduced several innovative products recently."

Within the past two years the marketplace has witnessed successful introductions of Vanilla Coke; diet Vanilla Coke and diet Coke with Lime.

One critical aspect of the development of C2 revolved around consumer testing. Consumer research began with concept testing and continued through prototype taste testing to ensure that the desired taste quality was achieved.

"For a launch of this scale, it is obviously very important for us to get it right. We did a lot of consumer research: What is the best concept? What would be the best product? A lot of taste testing and research on what is important to the consumer--is it carbs, calories, sugar, or is it all three?" says Preston. "We learned a lot through our research and were able to identify what was important to the consumer, then we built this concept, product and plan around those insights."

As for the taste testing, the obvious question is whether consumers can tell the difference between C2 and regular Coca-Cola Classic. Preston likens it to identical twins--if placing the two colas next to one another in a taste test, after a time period of 10 or 30 seconds, a few consumers may start to discern a taste difference. But if tasting the colas separately, most consumers cannot distinguish between drinking C2 versus regular Coca-Cola Classic.

In the market

The new C2 product will benefit from the brand equity that the Coca-Cola name carries. Consumers will implicitly trust that the new product will deliver the same high quality they have come to know in other Coca-Cola products.

Coca-Cola C2 will also benefit from its innovative packaging--a foil label affixed to each 20-ounce bottle--designed to lend a premium, upscale image to C2. Part of the product introduction plan is to have C2 "pop off the shelf" in many ways, and discovering a means of having a foil label on the plastic bottle was one hurdle the product development team overcame to meet that end.

A fully integrated marketing and advertising campaign will accompany the product to market. Already C2 has been introduced in Japan, which is considered the hotbed of consumer trends and new product trends, and therefore the perfect landscape for the introduction of this newest revolutionary cola product.

"Presenting C2 to the consumer will be fun, because the weight that the Coca-Cola name carries makes them open to hearing about our new products. The primary message of C2 is the idea that this product is half the carbs, half the calories and half the sugar, but with all the great Coca-Cola taste," says Preston. "This intrinsic positioning and message is one that consumers want to hear, that with C2 they can have reduced levels of what they don't want and still realize all of the great taste that they do want."

Nutrition Facts
Serv. Size 8 fl. 0z (240ml) Servings 2.5
Calories 45

Amount/Serving                  % DV*

Total Fat 0g                    0%
Sodium 30mg                     1%
Total Carb 12g                  4%
Sugars 12g
Protein 0g

*Percent Daily Values (DV) are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Ingredients: Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup and/or sucrose,
caramel color, phosphoric acid, natural flavors, potassium benzoate (to
protect taste), potassium citrate, caffiene, aspartame, acesulfame
potassium, sucralose.