Jimmy Kimmel’s Comeback: The Coca-Cola Classic Strategy That’s Shaking Up Late Night
Late night's prodigal son returns with a vintage playbook that's turning heads across the entertainment industry.
The Classic Formula Revival
Kimmel's comeback mirrors Coca-Cola's legendary 1985 strategy—abandoning New Coke to return to the original formula that made them iconic. The move demonstrates that sometimes the most innovative strategy is recognizing what already works.
Audience Loyalty Pays Dividends
Just like Coke loyalists who rejected New Coke, Kimmel's core audience never truly abandoned him. The return signals that established brands—whether beverage or broadcaster—can leverage deep-rooted audience connections that newer competitors can't replicate overnight.
Market Timing Masterclass
The entertainment landscape has shifted dramatically since Kimmel's hiatus. His return capitalizes on viewer fatigue with algorithm-driven content and nostalgia for authentic personalities—proving that sometimes the best forward move is a strategic step backward.
While Wall Street analysts scramble to quantify the 'nostalgia premium,' the real lesson for investors? Sometimes the most profitable innovation is knowing when not to innovate at all—a concept that would give most hedge fund managers an aneurysm.
The pause that refreshes
You might not have been around 40 years ago, but a lot has been written about Coca-Cola's biggest gamble. Sensing that younger sippers were turning to its biggest rival's cola offerings, the Atlanta-based beverage stock replaced its iconic soft drink with a sweeter and less carbonated reformulation that folks now refer to as New Coke. There was a customer backlash, and less than three months later it brought back the original, branded as Coca-Cola Classic to sell alongside New Coke.
Whether it was marketing genius or the more likely case of a timely recovery from an honest stumble, Coca-Cola came out winning. After seeing its revenue plummet 11% in 1985, the business rebounded with a 19% top-line surge the following year. Disney can use the adrenaline boost. It has posted just one fiscal year of organic double-digit revenue growth over the past 28 years.
It wouldn't be a surprise to see a spike in ratings for tonight's Jimmy Kimmel Live! airing on most ABC affiliates. Will the audiences stick around beyond this week? Perhaps just as importantly, will the advertisers come back -- and will they be willing to pay more or looking to pay less to reach the same audience?
Image source: Walt Disney.
It's the reel thing
The New Coke story is aspirational, but it also wasn't politically divisive. It was easy to see why the masses wanted something that was taken away, even if blind taste tests showed that many customers couldn't tell the difference between the new and old soft drink. It was an easy decision for Coca-Cola to make, appeasing the traditionalists.
A more comparable story to the Coca-Cola win four decades ago could be the switcheroo at this summer. The casual dining chain with attached rustic gift shops went viral last month for updating its stores and replacing its logo. It wasn't political, at least not directly. It was nostalgia. It took Cracker Barrel just weeks to roll back the most controversial changes. It remains to be seen if the MOVE will reverse the problematic comps trends that inspired the now failed makeover, but it has a shot. Headlines this week claiming that Cracker Barrel was closing 14 company-owned restaurants weren't as troublesome as they seem. The chain is actually closing more than a dozen of its smaller Maple Street Biscuit Company concept, supposedly to focus more on its namesake concept.
Disney just has to make sure that it doesn't fall into the trap. The cheap chic department store chain somehow upset both sides of the political fence in recent years, and it is currently trying to put an end to its slumping share price and hemorrhaging market share.
Will Jimmy Kimmel Live! see a sustainable boost to its ratings beyond this week? Will the viewers angry about last week's suspension -- boycotting the brand by posting cancellations of their Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions on social media -- come back? Will the streaming business boycott calls now bubble up from the other side? It won't take long to get the answers to all of these important questions. Until then, it will be more drama, intrigue, and suspense at Disney's ABC.
