Diet colas outsell core brands
have outpaced the core brands, despite little advertising, reports
Beverage Digest.
For the second consecutive year, sales of Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi have outpaced the core brands, despite little advertising, reports Beverage Digest.
Diet Pepsi sales grew by 4.4 per cent last year, while market leader Diet Coke was up 2.4 per cent on the previous year. Both products helped to bring about an increase of 1.5 per cent in supermarket sales of diet drinks from 2000, while other soft drinks were down 1.1 per cent.
Many people like carbonated drinks but don't want calories, said Beverage Digest editor John Sicher. "The top diet brands are benefiting from that."
The companies are responding to the growth with marketing campaigns to promote new flavours, new packaging and high-profile advertising. Diet Coke will be heavily present at the Winter Olympics with a new theme: "Do What Feels Good". Meanwhile Pepsi has signed up Cindy Crawford for an update of Diet Pepsi's 1991 ad, to be shown during the Academy Awards.
Some diet brands have not had such resounding success however. Pepsi's other diet cola, Pepsi One, launched in 1998, was down by 16.8 per cent last year. David Burwick, head marketer for carbonated drinks at Pepsi-Cola North America said: "We could do a better job communicating that Pepsi One is a guy thing."
Pepsi will target women and thirtysomething men with Oscar ads and new packaging for Diet Pepsi and new Diet Pepsi Twist. The company is to invest an estimated $25 million (€28.66m)in the new packaging and hiring supermodel Crawford, who will restage her ad from the 1991 Pepsi campaign.
