Coca-Cola today (May 23) unveiled its latest flavor from its Creations platform, Coca-Cola Wozzaah Zero Sugar, which looks to celebrate the vibrancy and dynamism of the entire African continent. The flavor is available to purchase for a limited time in select markets including Nigeria, Algeria, South Africa and Morocco.
With a name inspired by the isiZulu term for “come here,” Wozzaah looks to embody Africa from its taste profile to its packaging to a range of partnerships and experiences that look to extend the launch to other physical and digital realms.
“It all is very inviting and colorful, but also very unapologetic and bold,” said Silke Bucker, senior director and Coca-Cola category lead for Africa. “Out of all the Creations, I believe this is one that’s quite in your face, because that’s 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 answer the question, “What does Africa taste like?”
“We did a tasting session at the office last week and everyone’s experience is completely different,” Bucker said. “So even if I tell you what’s in it, your perception of what you think Africa is enhances the flavor notes that you 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 especially music, a sphere in which the sounds of Afrobeats and Amapiano have taken hold globally.
“Coca-Cola has the benefit of being a global brand and existing in pretty much everywhere around the world,” said Oana Vlad, senior director for global strategy at the company. “Together with a team in Africa, we’ve experienced the culture there and wanted to celebrate it and bring something really fun and new that’s vibrant, that’s literally an invitation into Africa.”
Wozzaah continues that invitation with a digital experience that doubles as a major first-party data play. The experience features different rooms, each inspired by the look and feel of a different country, including South Africa, Morocco, Algeria and Nigeria.
The Wozzaah digital experience features different rooms, each inspired by the look and feel of a different African country.
Courtesy of Coca-Cola
“There’s nothing that an African hates as much as when people think Africa is a country,” Bucker said. “We’re trying to showcase the beautiful diversity and creative power of this continent. It’s not one-size-fits-all, it’s us trying to bring all the different parts in through our storytelling in the most authentic way that we can.”
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 how 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 do we try to stay super nimble and move as fast as possible,” the executive said. “We have some discipline to the sequencing and how we want to be doing things, but at the same time, we want to stay really flexible and tap into culture when it comes up.”