Why doesn’t Coca-Cola want to tell you what’s in those weird flavors?

New York ( Business) — It is known that Coca-Cola will not tell you the recipe for Coca-Cola. And it won’t tell you anytime soon what’s in its new limited-edition flavors, either.

In recent months, Coca-Cola launched a series of curious products: Coca-Cola Starlight, Byte and Dreamworld. For each of the limited-edition flavors, the beverage company offered high-concept descriptions of an experience, rather than specific flavors. For Coca-Cola, the mystery is the point.

“We interact with people,” said Selman Careaga, global category president for the Coca-Cola Trademark, which includes Coca-Cola beverages but not other Coca-Cola products like Fanta, Sprite or others. “They interact with us and try to guess what’s in it.”

Getting people talking is an important marketing strategy for Coca-Cola, especially if it can spark interest among young consumers.

Recently, Coca-Cola has been “really trying to get consumers to discuss” its products, said Duane Stanford, editor of Beverage Digest. When the company unveiled its new Coke Zero recipe, for example, he encouraged customers to decide if it was “the best Coke ever.” And it has been selling mystery Fanta flavors as part of its “What Fanta?” campaign.

Conversations about product flavors bring brands to the forefront for consumers. Coca-Cola wants people who participate in these discussions, or see them online, to think of Coca-Cola when they walk into a store, Stanford said. And it’s especially important for the beverage company to create conversation around its core brand, which it has prioritized after weeding out underperforming brands.

Also, these products are not just Coca-Cola flavors. Each one comes with a dedicated online experience. Together, they are designed to capture the attention of a coveted demographic: Generation Z.

Cotton candy, popsicles, or gum?

Instead of a traditional flavor like “vanilla” or “cherry,” Coca-Cola provided each product with its own vague description and let fans fill in the blanks.

The company described Starlight as having “notes reminiscent of stargazing around a campfire, as well as a cooling sensation that evokes the feeling of a chilly journey into space.” Byte “invites you to explore the taste of pixels”, and Dreamworld is somehow even more conceptual, promising consumers that they will “experience the familiar taste of Coca-Cola now with a surprising and unexpected taste of a dream world” .

YouTubers who reviewed the product complained about the cheesy advertising, but still tried to figure out the flavor, encouraging commenters to weigh in.

Guesswork was all over the place: Some thought Starlight tasted like cotton candy, funnel cake, or S’mores. After trying Byte, some guessed blueberry or grapefruit. People said that Dreamworld tasted like mango, peach or orange. Or maybe cough syrup.

Some brands launch mystery flavors but reward customers with a revelation. Mountain Dew has made a tradition of releasing a secret flavor of VooDew and finally telling customers what it is. Coca-Cola’s Fanta flavors will also be unveiled.

But the Starlight, Byte and Dreamworld flavors stay in the safe, Careaga said.

“In a way, [es] like our secret formula,” he said. And in this case, the flavors aren’t really the point.

The target: Generation Z

Coca-Cola did not share sales figures for these products. But he is pleased with the results so far, Careaga said. Efforts like mystery flavors have contributed to sales growth in Coca-Cola beverages overall, he said. The Coca-Cola brand grew 7% in the second quarter.

The drinks were developed to fit into the larger themes of space, computing, and dreams, respectively. But the flavors themselves? Not so important.

“It’s really not so much about the taste of the product, it’s about the experiences we create,” he said. Those experiences are often virtual, with the intention of capturing a younger audience that spends a lot of time online.

Each of the limited-edition flavors launched among a host of digital experiences. To name a few: the Starlight can featured a QR code that granted customers access to a holographic Ava Max concert. Byte launched in Fortnite and Dreamworld customers could purchase virtual goods for their avatars online.

However, the important thing is that all Coca-Cola products taste like Coca-Cola.

“The R&D team does a great job [en] developing these new flavors, which are based on Coca-Cola, but then we play around with the flavor a little bit,” Careaga said. “It’s definitely a Coca-Cola product.”

Developing new Coca-Cola flavors can be risky if they stray too far from the signature flavor, Stanford said.

“When you create these formulas that can be unpredictable, you have to be very careful,” Stanford said. “The longevity of the brand has had to do with that unique taste of Coca-Cola,” he added. “You want to make sure you don’t undermine that message in the long run.”