The "Skinny" on Diet Coke

I am one of the biggest Diet Coke fans on the planet. While I know that it is not "healthy" or "good for my teeth" I still drink one to two cans a day (and of course blame this on the fact that I don't like coffee as a caffeine pick-me-up) and crave it with almost every meal, even breakfast. I first saw an ad on TV that featured Tom Colicchio, a Bravo Top Chef judge and star. I recognized him from the hours that I have spent watching cooking programs and I thought it was interesting that he is now the face of Diet Coke. I understand that with their new tag "Just for the taste of it" a celebrity food star fits the part, but I think that it is interesting that the product is both trying to claim itself as a life and style expert. We all know that Coke has been about the "experience" for decades. It is a way of life to drink Coke (you know you remember the ads for "The Coke Side of Life"...) and the brand has worked hard to make it a part of American culture.

For Diet Coke now with the launch of their new campaign, their ads and their online strategy are trying to capitalize on the Coke lifestyle in a big way. The website is very detailed and allows for a high level of consumer interaction. The website is flash driven with embedded video everywhere and you can easily forget that you are playing around on a website for a soft drink. I was particularly captured by the "Style Series" in which Hilary Duff and other celebrities are featured. These webisodes are vignettes set up like any E! News interview, complete with the Times Square backdrop and screaming fans. Duff in particular talks about her rise to stardom but she also talks about a charity that is close to Diet Coke's heart, literally. The Diet Coke brand is heavily involved with the American Heart Association and has done multiple co-branding efforts during the month of February for National "Heart Month" to help spread awareness of heart disease among women. Along with these webisodes, there are a variety of other offerings from the site. There are tips on cooking and entertaining, leading consumers in directions to create simple gourmet meals from the "Diet Coke Kitchen" as well as lifestyle tips on general wellness. You can even listen to podcasts on the facts regarding artificial sweeteners. All that you do and see on the website is easily shared through a variety of social media networks such as Facebook so you can make sure that your friends don't miss the latest great meal or celebrity style session.

It goes without saying that Diet Coke is a brand that doesn't really need to capture more consumers. You either like Coke or you like Pepsi (or maybe you don't drink soda at all). And it has more to do with the flavor than it does anything else, however, there definitely is a perception about both brands that is worth noting. They both have an arsenal full of brand weapons under their umbrellas, but I would argue that Coke has more "star power" than Pepsi. I don't mean this necessarily in the talent that you see on their website or in their commercials, but Coke seems to have a more refined style than Pepsi. I think that their Diet Coke executions are definitely a reflection of that. When you visit www.DietPepsi.com you get, well, the nutrition information for the brand and you are redirected to the Pepsi.com website. You aren't greeted by a celebrity chef, or by a famous beautiful blond starlet with a can in her hand. Hello boring, but does it reflect the Diet Pepsi brand? Yes because Diet Pepsi is simply the no calorie version of their parent brand Pepsi and they are not trying to create a lifestyle around this brand alone. Diet Coke knows that their diet brand stands alone from the rest of their products and they can capitalize on what this means to consumers. Even the Diet Coke can design looks much sleeker than that Diet Pepsi can...

"Diet" seems to be a cool word these days. Diet everything is on the market to help us in our ever present quest to become skinnier, prettier and richer. By exploiting these elements on the Diet Coke website through celebrities, gourmet meals and wellness tips, they only concede to the things that we desire in our lives. They fill the need for mimicking celebrity products that they are using or are seen photographed with, except that now, Diet Coke is bringing you this information themselves, all with the brand's seal of approval. Whether it is by being charitable, stylish or a good cook, Diet Coke shows that the brand can be a part of your everyday lifestyle. They are clearly interested in the things that their consumers are interested in, and they use this website to go above and beyond the brand to really fit within those lifestyle parameters that we (rather shamefully) set.

I think it is safe to say that it is not just the taste that Diet Coke drinkers might prefer...