ALBAWABA - Coca-Cola has released a limited edition with a new flavor targeting the avid video game community, a significant demographic increasingly pursued by food and beverage brands.
The new flavor, called "Coca-Cola Ultimate," was launched in partnership with Riot Games, the video game company. It is set to be available in stores in the United States and Canada on June 12th, in both regular and sugar-free variants.
On a global scale, the sugar-free flavor will also be introduced this week. The new flavor is designed to appeal to younger consumers, with a focus on music and online gaming enthusiasts. Coca-Cola has been introducing unique flavors for about a year and a half, including "Starrlite" inspired by space, "Dream World" with dream-like taste, and "Byte" inspired by pixel units. The company enlisted two renowned musicians, Rosalía and Marshmello, for promotional campaigns of these new flavors.
Secret Flavors
Coca-Cola remains tight-lipped about the actual flavors used in its innovative beverages.
In response to this, Ana Vlad, the company's Global Strategy Senior Director, stated, "We will never directly answer that question as they are secret flavors exclusive to the company. But they will always have that distinctive Coca-Cola taste." Vlad added, "We can say that Coca-Cola represents 85% to 90% of the flavor, with 10% being innovative flavors."
The flavors were not designed to be permanently available, as mentioned by CEO James Quincey in November. Their promotional role is mainly to draw attention to the company's core product. This marketing approach adopted by Coca-Cola has proven successful, as the brand has experienced noticeable growth in all the markets it operates in, partly attributed to its ability to attract the "Generation Z" demographic.
Virtual Experiences
In its pursuit of engaging the "Generation Z" audience, born in the 2000s, Coca-Cola has paired its limited editions with virtual experiences. For example, the "Starrlite" beverage can was equipped with a QR code that allowed consumers to attend a 3D concert by the singer Ava Max.
The new "Ultimate" flavor is closely linked to the game "League of Legends," owned by its partner Riot. It enables players to gain additional in-game interactions by consuming the new beverage.
