How Coca-Cola bottled the vibrancy of Africa for its latest creation

Coca-Cola today (May 23) unveiled its latest flavor from its Creations platform, Coca-Cola Wozzaah Zero Sugar, which looks to rejoice the vibrancy and dynamism of the entire African continent. The flavor is on the market to buy for a limited time in select markets including Nigeria, Algeria, South Africa and Morocco.

With a reputation inspired by the isiZulu term for “come here,” Wozzaah looks to embody Africa from its taste profile to its packaging to a spread of partnerships and experiences that look to increase the launch to other physical and digital realms.

“It all could be very inviting and colourful, but additionally very unapologetic and daring,” said Silke Bucker, senior director and Coca-Cola category lead for Africa. “Out of all the Creations, I think that is one which’s quite in your face, because that is very true to the African spirit.”

With artwork by Kenyan illustrator Joy Richu, the Wozzaah can stands out from even the more experimental Creations line with a design heavy on yellow and purple with accents of teal and the brand’s iconic red. Inside the can, Coca-Cola’s team of food scientists attempted to reply the query, “What does Africa taste like?”

“We did a tasting session at the office last week and everybody’s experience is totally different,” Bucker said. “So even when I let you know what’s in it, your perception of what you think that Africa is enhances the flavor notes that you just pick up.”

As part of the launch, Coca-Cola has enlisted Eswatini musician Uncle Waffles to perform at a concert in Johannesburg, South Africa and host the flavor’s digital experience, which features customizable Snapchat lenses. The brand also teamed with WafflesnCream, Nigeria’s first skateboarding company, to create merchandise available globally for online purchase. 

Learning about culture

For each Creations launch, Coca-Cola takes inspiration from culture, watching emerging trends and celebrating fan communities around the globe. This time around, Coca-Cola drew from the growing influence of African culture on fashion, food and particularly music, a sphere wherein the sounds of Afrobeats and Amapiano have taken hold globally.

“Coca-Cola has the profit of being a worldwide brand and existing in just about in all places around the world,” said Oana Vlad, senior director for global strategy at the company. “Together with a team in Africa, we have experienced the culture there and desired to rejoice it and produce something really fun and recent that is vibrant, that is literally an invite into Africa.”

Wozzaah continues that invitation with a digital experience that doubles as a significant first-party data play. The experience features different rooms, each inspired by the appear and feel of a distinct country, including South Africa, Morocco, Algeria and Nigeria. 

“There’s nothing that an African hates as much as when people think Africa is a rustic,” Bucker said. “We’re attempting to showcase the beautiful diversity and inventive power of this continent. It’s not one-size-fits-all, it’s us attempting to bring all the different parts in through our storytelling in the most authentic way that we are able to.”

Wozzaah is Coca-Cola’s eleventh flavor from a Creations platform that launched in 2022. Creations has featured esoteric flavors inspired by the “taste” of space, dreams and the metaverse, and has seen the marketer connect with cultural figures and tap into emerging sales channels like TikTok Shop. Whether quickly turning around a flavor, like Happy Tears, or determining the way to approach regional communities, like its Asia-focused K-Wave flavor, Coca-Cola has been “learning in real time” with Creations, Vlad said. 

“The challenge for us is how will we try to remain super nimble and move as fast as possible,” the executive said. “We have some discipline to the sequencing and the way we would like to be doing things, but at the same time, we would like to remain really flexible and tap into culture when it comes up.”