Marketing to Centennials, the Next Generation of Coca-Cola Brand Advocates

With each new generation, there are certain principles and values that emerge, helping to define the group. Understanding what each age cohort stands for, discovering what they expect from their favorite products and leveraging the information to successfully influence their purchasing decisions are all key to brand loyalty and longevity. Today, a new class of consumers is coming of age, ushering in new opportunities for marketers. This group is savvy, self-assured and not afraid to disrupt the norm.

Welcome to the dawn of the centennial generation.

Who Are the Centennials? 
Centennials are those born after 1997.

Like their millennial cohorts, they have been raised with technology and rich social platforms, and they have easy access to product information, buyer feedback and a wide range of choices. However, centennials are vastly different from millennials in many key ways. Of particular interest to marketers is the fact that centennials are aware that marketers are paying attention to them — and they're not exactly happy about it.

Curt Holt, Director of Channel Strategy & Development for Coca-Cola North America, explains, "While millennials love attention and being known as movers and shakers, centennials don't want people making assumptions about them, because they believe they are different from generations before them."

In many ways, centennials are different. According to The Futures Company, instead of focusing on the acquisition of new things, as was the case with many millennials, centennials are more content with what they already have. They are, in general terms, more focused on securing their future than the previous generation, and they are less inclined to try things that are risky or dangerous, which could jeopardize their future potential.

So how do marketers leverage that information?

"If you're going to win," Holt says, "figure out where they're gathering and organically, naturally become a part of that routine."

What They Want and Where They Are 
The Coca-Cola Company is evolving campaigns, creative elements and messaging to market in ways that resonate with centennials. For example, Holt says these efforts include meeting this group's demand for smaller package sizes and glass bottles, as well as capitalizing on their affinity for still beverages such as teas, enhanced water and juices, as well as sparkling water beverages.

The Coca-Cola Company understands that centennials have a high level of marketing sophistication — again, they are cognizant they're being marketed to — so the company is engaging in co-creation and co-innovation to further engage centennials and empower brand ambassadors. Social media platforms remain successful in the omnichannel approach, but the key is using the right platforms in the right way. Creative imagery and messaging needs to accurately represent teen goals and aspirations, Holt says.

Holt adds, "Companies must figure out how the brand and products can be a part of every generation in the lifecycle".