According to Carmen Nobel’s blog post “Should Men’s Product Fear a Woman’s Touch” on the Harvard Business School Blog, research shows that loyal customers, especially men, often get upset when a brand that is commonly associated with masculinity are expanded and perceived as feminine. Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer Jill Avery calls this phenomenon “gender contamination.” Gender contamination can be detrimental to a brand if the product fails to attract enough female customers and pushes away male customers at the same time. Most cultures today are androcentric meaning it is more acceptable for women to hold masculine traits than it is vice versa. This culture troubled Coca-Cola for many years as the company tried and failed to market its Diet Coke to men. My research shows that Coca-Cola did not have enough market research and failed to realize that the striking white packaging of the Diet Coke can was portrayed as feminine therefore “even though there was a functional need for men to drink lower-calorie soda, men couldn’t bridge the gender gap image-wise without a new brand and product just for them.”¹ Brand positioning and consumer research is essential for understanding that men were willing to consume more calories just to look more masculine even if they knew they wouldn’t afford the extra pound. Coca-Cola soon realized this threat and launched a new marketing strategy with their Coke Zero which was packaged in a black and red can with the new marketing campaign “It’s Not Your Fault.”² This allowed men to drink Coke Zero without feeling associated with women and their sales greatly exceeded the predictions of the company.

Works Cited:

“Should Men’s Product Fear a Woman’s Touch?” Harvard Business School. November 12^th 2013. November 14^th 2013.

“New Coke Zero Campaign” The Coca-Cola Company. March 18^th 2013. November 14^th 2013.