A new name, a recipe closer to the master brand
Coca-Cola began rolling out Coca-Cola Zero Sugar in late June 2016, replacing Coke Zero in Belgium, France, Great Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands.1, 2 The shift involved a reformulation closer to the original Coca-Cola taste profile and a new pack design, supported in the United Kingdom by a £10 million campaign that the bottler described as its largest investment in a new product launch in a decade.3, 4, 5 The relaunch was the company's first answer to consumer research showing that nearly half of UK consumers did not realise that Coke Zero contained no sugar.5
One Brand strategy and the red disc
The rebrand executed within the wider One Brand framework introduced in January 2016 by then chief marketing officer Marcos de Quinto.6, 7 Under that strategy, the four cola variants of Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero and Coca-Cola Life moved beneath a single master brand expressed through the "Taste the Feeling" platform and a unified visual system anchored by the red disc that Coca-Cola first introduced in its advertising in the 1930s.6, 8 On Coca-Cola Zero Sugar's UK packaging, the red disc sat on a black field; in international markets that followed, the red ground of the classic Coca-Cola pack carried a black band reading "zero sugar" or its translated equivalent.2
Clarifying the brand under James Quincey
The renaming was driven by the conviction that the existing name obscured the product's central proposition. With "Sugar" placed inside the name, the brand stated its no-sugar positioning directly, addressing the perceived confusion between Coke Zero and Diet Coke.5 The shift was led during the transition between Muhtar Kent and James Quincey, who had been promoted to president of The Coca-Cola Company in August 2015 and was named chief executive in December 2016.1, 7 For Quincey, the Coca-Cola Zero Sugar relaunch represented an early statement of his strategic priority: bringing greater clarity to the company's portfolio and tightening the relationship between its variants and the Coca-Cola master brand.
From Europe to the United States
One year after the European relaunch, the company announced in July 2017 that the new name and recipe would replace Coke Zero in the United States, despite the original product's healthy growth there.2, 9 The change drew vocal protest from American consumers, with comparisons to the 1985 New Coke episode appearing in the press.2 By the early 2020s the product had become the company's fastest-growing cola variant, was reformulated again in 2021, and by 2024 ranked seventh among soft drinks sold in the United States, the largest market-share gain in the category since its 2005 introduction.2
Written with AI assistance, edited by a human. Find out more about our Use of AI.
1. The Coca-Cola Company, "2016 Annual Review", for Coca-Cola Zero Sugar as a reformulated and rebranded version of Coke Zero introduced in 2016 in Belgium, France, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, where it replaced Coke Zero with an improved taste, and for James Quincey as President and Chief Operating Officer who would become Chief Executive Officer on 1 May 2017. https://investors.coca-colacompany.com/_assets/_d77656816daa10014b0e68ce16d0a301/cocacolacompany/db/880/10210/annual_report/2016.pdf
2. Wikipedia, "Coca-Cola Zero Sugar", read 25 September 2026, for the relaunch in western Europe beginning in June 2016 with a new formula, for the Coca-Cola Zero Sugar packaging with a red disc on a black background and, in overseas markets, the classic red design with a black band around the top of the label reading "zero sugar", for the 2017 announcement that the new formula and name would come to the United States despite increasing sales of the existing drink there, for the vocal backlash from American consumers and the comparisons with the launch of New Coke in 1985 reported by The Washington Post, for the further reformulation of 2021, and for the drink being the seventh best selling soda in the United States as of 2024, with the largest rise in market share among sodas since its introduction in 2005. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola_Zero_Sugar
3. The Guardian, "Coca-Cola Zero to be renamed in UK and will taste 'more like Coke'", 19 April 2016, listed as the source for the April 2016 announcement that Coke Zero would be renamed in the United Kingdom and reformulated to taste more like Coca-Cola; the page is blocked for the retrofit environment and its text could not be checked, page not reachable on 25 September 2026. http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/apr/19/coca-cola-zero-renamed-uk-taste-more-like-coke-sugar
4. Campaign, Simon Gwynn, "Coke Zero gets new name and new taste in £10m 'classic Coke' relaunch", date not shown on the page as read, for Coca-Cola Great Britain rebranding and reformulating Coke Zero as Coca-Cola Zero Sugar with a £10 million relaunch, and Campaign, Simon Gwynn, "Coke launches biggest new product campaign in a decade for Coca-Cola Zero Sugar", date not shown on the page as read, for the launch being the company's biggest new product campaign in ten years as the drink reached the shelves. Both articles sit behind a login; headline, standfirst and byline were read, the article bodies were not. https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/coke-zero-gets-new-name-new-taste-10m-classic-coke-relaunch/1391668 https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/coke-launches-biggest-new-product-campaign-decade-coca-cola-zero-sugar/1401122
5. Business Insider, Lara O'Reilly, "Coca-Cola explains its Coke Zero rebrand: 'Coke and Coke Zero Sugar are like ham and egg'", 8 July 2016, for the reformulated drink that "tastes more like Coke and looks more like Coke", for the £10 million marketing campaign behind the British launch, for the company's finding that "50% of people don't know Coke Zero doesn't contain any sugar", and for Coca-Cola Great Britain marketing director Bobby Brittain setting the drink apart from Diet Coke, which "was never intended to taste like Coke and doesn't taste like Coke". The Business Insider page is blocked for the retrofit environment; the text was read from the same article syndicated on Yahoo Finance. https://www.businessinsider.com/coca-cola-explains-its-coke-zero-rebrand-coke-and-coke-zero-sugar-are-like-ham-and-egg-2016-7 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coca-cola-explains-coke-zero-114257160.html
6. The Coca-Cola Company, "Coca-Cola Announces 'One Brand' Global Marketing Approach", press release, Paris, 19 January 2016, for Marcos de Quinto, Chief Marketing Officer, presenting the One Brand approach that brings Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Light or Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero and Coca-Cola Life under one creative campaign, "Taste the Feeling", anchored in the Spencerian script, the red disc and the glass bottle; and The Coca-Cola Company, "Coca-Cola Reveals New 'One Brand' Packaging", press release, Mexico City, 18 April 2016, for the one visual identity system across the four variants with the Red Disc as its signature element and black as the colour of Coca-Cola Zero. https://investors.coca-colacompany.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/803/coca-cola-announces-one-brand-global-marketing https://investors.coca-colacompany.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/820/coca-cola-reveals-new-one-brand-packaging
7. Wikipedia, "James Quincey" and "The Coca-Cola Company", read 25 September 2026, for Quincey becoming president of Coca-Cola in 2015, having been named chief operating officer in August 2015, being named chief executive in December 2016 and taking over from Muhtar Kent; and Wikipedia, "Marcos de Quinto", listed for his role as chief marketing officer, which could not be fetched from the retrofit environment, page not reachable on 25 September 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Quincey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coca-Cola_Company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcos_de_Quinto
8. Coca-Cola Australia, "Past and Present: Exploring the Iconic Brand Design Behind the Coca-Cola Red Disc", undated, for the red disc or "button" sign having been used to advertise Coca-Cola since it was first hand-painted in the 1930s. https://www.coca-cola.com/au/en/media-center/past-and-present--exploring-the-iconic-brand-design-behind-coca-
9. The Coca-Cola Company, "Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Launches in U.S. with New and Improved Real Coca-Cola Taste", 26 July 2017, the matching article for the Media Center the verse lists, for the July 2017 announcement that Coca-Cola Zero became Coca-Cola Zero Sugar in the United States with a new name, look and taste, and for Coca-Cola Zero having been one of the top 10 U.S. sparkling brands in 2016 with 3.5 percent dollar sales growth. The Coca-Cola Zero Sugar product page the verse also lists, www.coca-cola.com/zero, returns an error, page not reachable on 25 September 2026. https://www.coca-colacompany.com/about-us/history/coca-cola-zero-sugar-launches-in-united-states https://www.coca-colacompany.com/media-center https://www.coca-cola.com/zero
