The Coca-Cola Company is conducting consumer testing for a new drink called Vio in New York. Vio, described as “the world’s first vibrancy drink”, is a carbonated dairy-based beverage brand and comes in four “natural” flavors Citrus Burst, Peach Mango, Tropical Colada, and Very Berry. 

Consumers might assume that since it contains milk and fruit, Vio would be nutritious and healthy. But there are actually 26g of sugar per bottle, making the innovative beverage as sugary as a regular can of Coke. Although there is no mention of beverage’s dairy contents on its eye-catching bottle except for the ingredients list, the shape of Vio’s bottle is similar to a traditional glass milk bottle, and features a mostly-white design. Customers will easily associate Vio with milk. At the same time, as we saw in the case of Nutrisoda, the colorful splashes on Vio’s packages suggest it is full of sugar. In summary, Vio’s visual identity is communicating that the product is indeed dairy-based but also contains a lot of sugar, which is an accurate message.

So will Vio prove to be a successful product? It will depend on whether its brand strategy is suitable for its target market, and whether their brand strategy is based on market research.

Some believe that children are Vio’s main target. The American Beverage Association's School Beverage Guidelines prohibits sugar-sweetened carbonated soft drinks from being sold in elementary, middle, and high schools. However, the guidelines still allow some milk-based products to be sold. If Coca-Cola is trying to get Vio into schools, it could be their latest attempt to capture the youth market in which Pepsi is believed to have an edge. It will be important for Coca-Cola to do consumer testing with both children and youth to see if they like the taste of Vio and are interested in purchasing it.

On first glance, Vio’s brand concept should appeal to young people; however, taste can still play a pivotal role for beverages. This is why consumer testing is so important for the success of Vio.