New Soft Drink Won’t Be Quite the Real Thing : Marketing: Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi are developing products that will be a cross between regular and diet.

Coca-Cola Co. may be getting ready to introduce a not-quite-diet cola in North America as part of a move by soft drink makers to lure customers who want less sugar but don’t like diet drinks, industry analysts say.

They say the new drink, rumored to be called Coca-Cola Light, could counter the launch by archrival Pepsico Inc. of a mid-calorie cola, called Pepsi Max, in Canada this month.

Coke, the world’s largest soft drink bottler, officially declined to comment on what it describes as market speculation, and spokesmen would not confirm whether such a product exists.

Pepsi Max, which promises 50 calories a serving instead of 150, and a taste closer to that of regular Pepsi, is designed to appeal to the estimated one-third of cola drinkers who switch constantly between diet to regular drinks.

Analysts say Coke could introduce its own mid-calorie cola early this year as part of a strategy of offering new products with short life spans but big profit potential while brand-name popularity lasts.

“Coca-Cola could consider the introduction of another cola product--a mid-calorie Coca-Cola,” said Natwest analyst Michael Branca. “The feeling is that there is some potential for a mid-calorie cola product in North America this year.”

Analysts say the Pepsi Max introduction makes it likely both Pepsi and Coke will have mid-calorie colas in the North American market by summer.

“Canada is not necessarily a testing ground for the U.S. market,” said Pepsico spokeswoman Ann Ward, “but something like a mid-calorie cola is a possibility for the United States.”

With North American soft-drink sales growing only about 4% a year, Coke is bent on finding niche markets that may last only as long as the customer’s mood.

“These are brands that work for two or three years and then disappear but could still make a lot of money during that time,” said Brown Bros. Harriman & Co. analyst John Nelson.

Coke will vastly expand its product introduction schedule over the next 1 1/2 years, M. Douglas Ivester, Coca-Cola executive vice president for North America, told a group of Atlanta business executives.

“In the last 18 months, we have introduced two dozen products around the world; in another 18 months, that may seem like a slow pace,” Ivester said.

Industry experts say the “quick-hit” strategy makes sense in a market of rapidly changing tastes.

“If you’re faced with fickle (consumers), fickle is a great way to be,” said Jesse Meyers, publisher of the Greenwich, Conn.-based Beverage Digest newsletter.