COMPANY NEWS; Coke Adds a Clear Cola To Its 'New Age' Stable

The Coca-Cola Company introduced a new clear diet cola yesterday to counter the recent foray by its archrival, Pepsi, into so-called New Age beverages with Crystal Pepsi. But Coca-Cola declined to anoint a clear Coke and reached to one of its second-tier brands in naming its newest drink: Tab Clear.

Coca-Cola rented the Hayden Planetarium in Manhattan yesterday to announce its "truly out-of-the-world news," and the hyperbole never abated. With bluster characteristic of the cola wars, Coca-Cola executives called Tab Clear the "ultimate diet soft drink" and declared that confronting Pepsi's challenge with a clear Coke would have been "aiming too low." 'Clear Coke' Shunned

Doug Ivester, president of Coca-Cola's North American soft drink business, also suggested that attaching the Coke name to a clear beverage was never a possibility, in light of the brand's cola heritage. "Clear Coke is an oxymoron," he said.

Some analysts, however, saw Coke cautiously avoiding a direct challenge to Pepsi, which has attached its strongest brand name to Crystal Pepsi in the hopes of creating a third profitable category beyond traditional colas and diet colas. Crystal Pepsi, introduced nationally last week following test-marketing since April, is available in both regular and diet formulations.

Some analysts also questioned the wisdom of using the name of Tab, a 29-year-old brand whose main customers are older women. Although Tab was once the best-selling diet soft drink before Diet Coke was introduced in 1982, when Tab held 4 percent market share, it has fallen to less than 1 percent today.

Tom Pirko, president of Bevmark Inc., a consulting firm based in Los Angeles, said that Tab's long ties to women consumers and its saccharin sweetener would hamstring Coca-Cola in trying to capture consumer interest in clear beverages. "They have allowed Pepsi to seize the momentum," he said.

Even so, analysts also noted that the company's choice of the Tab name for a clear cola could help to revive a floundering brand. The selection, they said, was a relatively safe move, perhaps born of gun-shyness after the company bobbled its introduction of a reformulated Coke in 1985.

Coca-Cola plans to introduce Tab Clear in 10 cities in January. The product will not reach the rest of the country, including New York, and several international markets until mid- to late 1993.

To promote the new drink, Coca-Cola plans to drum the theme "It's Not What You Think!" throughout its advertising, including two television commercials it showed yesterday. Mr. Ivester declined to disclose sales projections or the promotional budget Coca-Cola was allotting for the drink.

Tab Clear, which has no sugar and no calories, does contain caffeine and is sweetened with aspartame. Mr. Ivester described the drink's taste only as a "full-flavored cola," although others who sampled the beverage at the news conference described it variously as "cinnamony," "peppery" and "not like Tab." Pepsi Fires Back

Pepsi executives contended that Tab Clear was a late and lesser competitor to Crystal Pepsi, which is getting an estimated $40 million in advertising support, starting with the Super Bowl Jan. 31.

Not to be outdone, Pepsi yesterday trumpeted projections contending that Crystal Pepsi would capture more than 2 percent of the $47 billion United States soft-drink market in the first year of its national distribution. A 2 percent share represents about $1 billion in retail sales.

To address the expanding market for the New Age beverages, which boast an annual growth rate of about 20 percent, some analysts expected Coca-Cola to lend greater support to its Nordic Mist line of flavored, sweetened sparkling waters. Earlier this year, Coca-Cola pumped new promotional life into its 26-year-old Fresca diet soda and introduced a sports drink called Powerade.