Coca-Cola builds incremental sales with 'cause' packaging

Coca-Cola has done a masterful job in recent years of adapting its package graphics in support of special promotions that target niche audiences and drive incremental sales.

Most recently, the company has been leveraging its Diet Coke brand with a heart-health message on cans in support of a national awareness campaign. As detailed at Convenience Store Decisions, Coca-Cola is partnering with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in promoting the campaign, dubbed The Heart Truth, during February.

Coca-Cola will spread the message through various national media, but the smartly decorated, limited-edition Diet Coke cans, featuring The Heart Truth’s red, heart-shaped logo, are a centerpiece of the marketing strategy.

This latest effort is another example of how Coca-Cola maintains brand equity in its products through familiar packaging, but also occasionally shares some of the “billboard” with other organizations to solidify its reputation as a supporter of specific causes and campaigns.

These on-pack promotions include its specially decorated cans that leveraged its sponsorship of the most recent Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China.