Coke Zone Calls For Loyalty Rethink

Coca Cola will be closing their points-based loyalty scheme in October; with plans to offer ‘unique experiences’ via the interactive Coke Zone website as an alternative.

The points-based loyalty scheme was initially a web-based platform that could be used by Coca-Cola enthusiasts, where they could enter codes from bottles of Coca Cola, Diet Coke and Coke Zero and redeem them for prize draws and rewards. This system was introduced in 2008 in a bid to add value and build loyalty for the brand. However, after seeing a decrease in the number of users logging onto the hub, the system is set to be closed in October 2013.

Stuart Evans, General Manager of loyalty firm ICLP comments; “If you are going to do something in the loyalty space, your proposition needs to be a 360-degree view of the brand. It needs to be about content, games, interactivity, videos and even better, you need to push a scheme out to where your audience is”. So although Cola-lovers will be losing the points redemption scheme they once knew and loved, it sounds like Coca-Cola have a few exciting tricks up their sleeve.

Elsewhere, Uniliver is preparing the launch of PG Tips’ ‘Cuppa Club’, which is designed to work in a similar way to the original version of the Coke Zone, inviting consumers to collect and redeem points against tea-themed treats. But at apt, we’d like to see Coca-Cola take a leaf out of Old Spice’s book when it comes to interactivity and online innovation.