Insight #1 – People like choice, but not a lot of options. In fact, two options works best.

People prefer binary choices, selecting from two options rather than an array of possibilities – similar to the way dummy variables work in computing. Therefore, audiences are much more likely to make a choice or take part in challenges which involve choosing from only variables.

Insight #2 – Most people swear they could tell the difference between Coca-Cola Original Taste and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar.

Our search through YouTube revealed that people were already playing taste-guessing games with Coke Regular and Coke Zero, sharing their personal taste preferences while sparking conversations around the benefits of sugar reduction. Plus they were already using the same mechanism used in dummy variables to showcase both products.

We could capitalize on the phenomenon by putting this binary choice into a single bottle of Coca-Cola.

Thousands of Coca-Cola Guess bottles were printed and coded, enticing people to see for themselves if they could spot the taste difference between classic Coke and Coke Zero. Each label was equipped with an invitation for our challengers to easily access a dedicated online platform from their smartphones to confirm if their taste buds were as accurate as they thought.

The challenge took social media by storm, and even caught local influencers’ attention, who invited their online communities to play the game on Coca-Cola Guess bottles and challenge their friends to do the same.

We amplified this first-of-its-kind challenge with through Coca-Cola Guess tasting events in Bucharest and other key Romanian cities – turning a simple blind taste test into a cultural phenomenon.

The Coca-Cola Guess campaign was a huge success, both in terms of sales and as a testament to Coke Zero as sugar-free alternative to Coke with the same great taste.

More than 50,000 people took part in the challenge and Coca-Cola Zero saw a sales increase of +16% vs the same period last year.

Perhaps most impressive of all, only 53% of those who participated in the challenge guessed correctly, proof to all of Romania that Coke Zero provides the same great taste of Coke Classic without the sugar, making it a viable and delicious sugar reduction option.

As consumers continued to move away from high calorie sugary sodas towards beverage alternatives, Coca-Cola Zero had an opportunity to boost visibility in Romania. While it offered the perfect alternative to it’s sugar-filled counterpart, after years of promoting Coca-Cola Zero as the same taste, zero sugar alternative, sales remained flat.

Rather than tell consumers that Coca-Cola Zero tasted just like Coca-Cola Classic, we decided to put our bottle where people’s mouths were through a blind taste test that challenged consumers to spot the taste difference – and propelled Coca-Cola Zero as the sugar-free way to consume a beverage classic.

We turned the Coca-Cola Zero bottle itself into a dummy variable, instantly transforming the Coca-Cola bottle into a simple two-option game. The label became half Coca-Cola regular, half Coke Zero, and we affectionately named it the “Coca-Cola Guess” bottle.

The Coca-Cola Guess bottle was filled with either Coca-Cola regular or Coca-Cola Zero, but our consumers didn’t know which they had purchased.

So they had to guess – effectively putting their money where their mouth was to see if they could truly taste the difference. All they had to do was purchase a bottle, guess the content on a dedicated website (ghicestegustul.ro) and use the code on the bottle to check if they guessed correctly.

The Coca-Cola Guess bottle challenge would become the biggest blind test ever in Romania, enticing new drinkers with a fun way to discover Coca-Cola Zero while testing the taste buds of Coca-Cola Classic’s most ardent fans.

Following the global trend, beverage consumers in Romania were turning away from sugar-heavy drinks like sodas towards sugar-free alternatives. As Romanians became more calorie-conscious and aware of the short and long-term effects of a high sugar diet, they were looking for delicious beverage options that offered less sugar without sacrificing flavor.

Coca-Cola Zero offered the alternative people were looking for; a sugar-free soda that tasted just like “real” Coke. The problem? Coca-Cola Zero already converted a base of regular Coke drinkers to the same-taste-zero-sugar Coca-Cola Zero beverage leading to stagnant sales growth with no user base increase.

Our mission, therefore, was to convince a new audience to jump aboard the sugar reduction trend and see Coke Zero as a viable substitute to original Coke.