Coca-Cola’s #TakeATaste campaign wins Consumer Initiative of the Year

Winner: Coca-Cola: Coca-Cola Zero Sugar #TakeATaste Campaign

Coca-Cola’s #TakeATaste campaign is proof that younger consumers – who are increasingly turning to trendy challengers – are still willing to engage with heritage brands.

Coca-Cola’s challenge  was to bring social media-loving consumers to their first taste of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, and “reassert its dominance” in a soft drinks market full of emerging players.

To that end, it launched a fun and innovative augmented reality giveaway that spoke their language, rather than bombarding this demographic with ineffective mass-market ads.

It rolled out marketing on UK-wide out-of-home screens, with QR codes that activated the “Take A Taste” augmented reality experience on smartphones. The experience showed a virtual Coca-Cola bottle that could be ‘grabbed’ – and then exchanged for a real bottle when presented in store.

Register your interest for The Grocer Gold Awards 2025

Geo-targeted social media posts, plus influencer content and endorsements, sparked record engagement and traction among younger consumers, supporting the wider goal of driving audiences down a frictionless path to product trial.

Judges said the activity resulted in a “clear increase in brand perception”, with high app take-up and mission completion from consumers.

The campaign “has ticked many success metrics” and has also led to several follow-up initiatives, such as trialling the activity across other brands in the Coca-Cola portfolio.

Shortlisted:

• Aldi UK - Giving Britain a Taste for Sport
• Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and Coca-Cola Company - Coca-Cola Zero Sugar #TakeATaste Campaign
• Iceland Foods - Infant formula change for customers
• Kind Snacks - Kind x FA Partnership
• Mondelez International - Cadbury Shell egg Relaunch
• Tesco - Stronger Starts
• Wuka - Axe Period Pant Tax