Rebranding an old favorite

At a time when soda is getting a lot of negative press, Diet Coke has come up with a very clever branding idea.

The Slender Vender! A super slim vending machine that spits out super slim bottles of diet coke. It’s a look and design that’s intended to scream out a kind of sleek, thin drink that’s convenient. The vending machine is so, well, slim that it can be placed almost anywhere that people gather. So when people run on a treadmill at the gym, bowl, sit on a park bench, or have their hair blown out at the salon, they may be tempted by the convenience and this new way of dispensing a well-known drink! We at The Lempert Report think the folks at Diet Coke have come up with a pretty smart idea. The design of the slim dispensers and the mini-cans should appeal to Millennials, even if the content sold doesn’t seem to appeal quite as much. However, as Millennials continue to migrate to other beverages besides diet cola, it’s possible the appeal of this new way to dispense diet coke has a limited shelf life. One sign of this cap: the slick YouTube video announcing the launch two months ago is just now closing in on 200,000 views. Not bad, but not viral. We think the number suggests resistance to diet soda itself more than any distaste for vending machines in places geared to other purposes. Watch this… slim…space to see how it plays out!