Coca-Cola’s New Ad Campaign Relies on a Familiar Theme : Beverages: The emphasis is on the authenticity of Coke Classic. The company has widened its U.S. market share lead over Pepsi.

Nearly a decade after it quickly reversed a decision to retire the flagship brand’s flavor, Coca-Cola Co. is pitching Coca-Cola Classic’s authenticity in new advertising for the top-selling soft drink.

“Always and Only Coca-Cola” is the theme for 1995, an embellishment of the “Always Coca-Cola” line that has been used for the past two years.

The old advertising line has helped reinforce the brand’s unique taste and helped it post above-average volume growth of about 9% worldwide last year, said Sergio Zyman, Coca-Cola’s chief marketing officer.

In a telephone interview from Arizona, where he spoke to securities analysts, Zyman said the addition of the words “and only” to the theme should underline that the drink suits every occasion.

The company showed off 13 new commercials for its flagship brand for 1995. The group excluded the new ads still being developed by Creative Artists Agency, the Hollywood agency that has been making Coke ads for two years.

Five of the new ads deal with Coca-Cola Classic’s authenticity. In one commercial shot mostly in black and white, actors posing as FBI agents from the 1930s in New York expose and shut down a company making imitations of Coca-Cola along with the street peddler who sells the stuff.

In another ad, a man sets a Coca-Cola Classic on a copier machine as an announcer says efforts to imitate it “always come out flat.”

Generic cola is deflected away from a glassful of ice that makes way for Coke Classic in another ad.

Four other commercials highlight Coke’s contoured containers, which are replacing the more generic shape used widely in the industry.

In one ad, a man caught in his apartment during a power outage reaches confidently for Coca-Cola Classic in his refrigerator, knowing he can identify it by shape. The same can’t be said for the box of animal crackers he thought he had.

The advertising comes as new rankings by the industry newsletter Beverage Digest showed Coca-Cola Classic widened its lead over Pepsi-Cola as the best-selling soft drink brand last year.

Beverage Digest said Coca-Cola Classic rose 0.3 percentage points to an industry-leading 20.4% of the U.S. soft drink market in 1994 while the second-biggest brand, Pepsi, rose 0.1 percentage point to 17.8%.

Diet Coke was a distant third at 8.8%, followed by Dr Pepper at 6.4% and Diet Pepsi at 5.7%.

Coca-Cola Classic rebounded rapidly from its brush with death in April, 1985, regaining the soft drink brand leadership for 1986.

Zyman, who was involved in the decisions, said Coca-Cola marketers went with the best consumer information available at the time and replaced the formula that Coca-Cola had been using for its flagship brand in favor of a sweeter one. The change came after Pepsi had made some headway with heavily advertised taste test comparisons that it said showed a preference for Pepsi.

But Zyman said consumers quickly let the Atlanta-based soft drink concern know they wanted the original flavor back and the company reintroduced the brand as Coca-Cola Classic in July, 1985.

“We learned a lot from 1985. Our management team doesn’t believe in perpetuating our beliefs. We are interested in perpetuating the company,” Zyman said.

Coca-Cola Classic had been ahead of Pepsi each year since 1986, while the New Coke flavor that briefly replaced it has all but vanished. Zyman said it is sold regionally but Coca-Cola no longer promotes it.

He said he saw no inconsistency between trying to replace a brand one year and marketing its authenticity a decade later.

“I’m often told I change my mind too much. But I change my mind every time I have a new piece of knowledge,” he said.