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September 11, 2001 Issue

Fresca Enjoys a New Bubble of Popularity

There have been appearances on "The Sopranos", "The West Wing", even in the Oscar-winning film "Traffic". There have been sightings in chic New York City spots and in retro Atlanta restaurants. Folks in Denver and Mexico are big fans. The hoopla is a figure that, granted, is well-known but moves around the nation without a bodyguard and publicist. It doesn't even live and breathe, though its followers would fervently argue it has a life of its own. Fresca -- the low calorie, citrus-grapefruit carbonated beverage that has a U.S. market share of less than 1% -- is making a comeback. Some call it the mixer of the moment. With a push expected from parent Coca-Cola Co., Americans are likely to see more of the bitter 35-year-old beverage within the next year.

"There is interest in doing things with Fresca," says Steve Hutcherson, group director of marketing for Coke's adult brands and a former Fresca brand manager, without elaborating. "It seems there is latent equity with this brand." Among Fresca's most valuable attributes, Mr. Hutcherson says: an unplanned grass-roots movement that seems to be building behind the brand, the cult-like following of loyal subjects and its nostalgic appeal.

Consumers by the droves have been returning to retro in recent years. Automobile makers, for example, have been putting twists on old favorites such as the Chrysler PT Cruiser and the Volkswagen Bug. With Fresca, observers say, Coke has a brand, originally made for the 1960s generation, that appeals to people who desperately long for the days of yore.

"It's a pretty ugly time we live in -- guns in schools, crime, Aids. It's note the '50s anymore," says David Morrison, president of TwentySomething Inc., a Philadelphia-based consulting firm. "People long for the good old days, and products and brands that tap into that can be very successful. Fresca, if it plays its cards right, could make a comeback."

The soda is already making a pop -- without any action by Coke. The beverage -- long popular in regions such as northern New England, the Rocky Mountain area, the northern Midwest and Utah, Idaho and Minnesota -- appears more and more on cocktail menus at bars and restaurants in trend-setting New York. Manhattan's Red Cat, for example, makes a drink simply called "The Fresca," which contains vodka, grapefruit juice, lime juice and Fresca -- if it is in stock. If not, it is 7-Up. At the popular Atlanta restaurant Agnes & Muriel's, a two-story converted house with vintage furniture, Fresca is used in the sangria. "People out there want something more than Diet Coke," says owner Glenn Powell. "Fresca is unique."

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