Coke promotes Fanta shakeup with mobile game, Gen Z creators

• Fanta Orange is getting a product overhaul and accompanying integrated marketing campaign in North America as parent Coca-Cola looks to bolster the appeal of the soft drink, per details shared with Marketing Dive. 
• The beverage has a new logo, bottle packaging and reformulated flavor profile meant to enhance taste and tingle. Changes are promoted through a number of channels, including a mobile game called Fanta Digital Ride n Sip that lets players accrue rewards. 
• Out-of-home placements will disperse an orange scent to entice consumers, while the brand aims to deepen immersion through in-person multi-sensory experiences and cinema creative. Fanta is driving awareness for the mobile game and activations through partnerships with diverse Gen Z content creators, a clue to its target audience. 

Coke is looking to reinvigorate interest in its Fanta Orange offering through a reformulation, visual identity overhaul and multichannel marketing push. The mix of gaming elements, in-person experiences and creator partnerships speaks to a desire to connect with Gen Zers, a key consumer segment but one that’s difficult to reach through traditional ads. The cohort has also gravitated away from sugary soda in the hunt for variety and healthier options in recent years. 

Fanta Digital Ride n Sip, a core aspect of the campaign, is a web-based mobile game that relies on the phone’s motion sensors. Players control a chilled glass of Fanta Orange placed on a roller coaster track and must prevent spillage by tilting their device as it races through a variety of colorful locales. 

Several other aspects of Fanta’s effort are meant to immerse consumers in the revamped flavor. Murals in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Toronto will carry an orange scent, while the brand is targeting all five senses through an in-person experience that hits LA in early April. Along with the influencer tie-ups, Fanta is leveraging its owned social channels to promote the changes and deploy “culturally relevant content that awakens target audience’s cravings and generates awareness,” according to the announcement. 

The move comes as Coke shakes up its approach to Fanta elsewhere. In the U.K., the beverage giant is rebranding its long-standing Lilt drink as Fanta Pineapple and Fanta Grapefruit. The company has promised the tangy soda is otherwise unaltered, per The Guardian. 

Fanta has been a smaller player in the U.S. than abroad, though Coke could be looking to change that with the refresh. The marketer reported fourth-quarter earnings Tuesday that saw falling profits and volumes but a 7% year-on-year growth in revenue, gains that could be attributed to higher prices.