Coca-Cola Vanilla - Marketing Campaign

Marketing Campaign

The marketing campaign for Vanilla Coke aimed to appeal across all generations. Yolanda Ball, brand manager for Coca-Cola Classic, said, "We had to learn how to balance the newness of vanilla with the established qualities of Coca-Cola".

One of the first notable advertisements was a television ad created by The Martin Agency which was based upon the product's original campaign line of "Reward Your Curiosity". The ad featured actor Chazz Palminteri, in which he and another man pull a teenager (played by a young Aaron Paul) into an alley after catching him peering into a hole. Palminteri gives the boy a Vanilla Coke, as a reward for his curiosity. Their former website rewardyourcuriosity.com went along with the campaign and drew a large interest at the time. (In the Philippine version of the ad, Palminteri's role was done by actor Johnny Delgado.) Ms. Ball described the ad: "We were trying to create something new and intriguing . . . half of it was about new, different and change of pace, and the rest of it was about how people love and trust Coca-Cola. But we didn't have to say New from Coca-Cola. We didn't have to hit them over the head with it."

Vanilla Coke debuted at the Vanilla Bean Café, locally known as "the Bean," in Pomfret, Connecticut. The diet variety would be directed primarily at women. Although, the first public tasting of Vanilla Coke took place in the Buckhead district of Atlanta at the Three Dollar Cafe with Atlanta radio station Q100 and their morning hosts from The Bert Show.

The official re-introduction of Vanilla Coke began May 25, 2007 at the World of Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta, Georgia. The Coca-Cola Company announced a partnership with Edy's Ice Cream to co-advertise with Coke on the launch, and featured a 10-ton Vanilla Coke float, which was certified by the Guinness World Records as the largest ice cream float in the world.