Coca-Cola set to launch unifying thematic campaign
As part of its promise never to shy away from social issues, Coca-Cola has concluded plans to launch a big marketing campaign across ten markets designed to position the drink as a brand that unites people in what it perceives as an “ever more polarised and unfriendly world”.
According to a statement, the campaign will launch next week and will run under the tagline ‘Everything is better when we’re open’.
Recall that Coca-Cola’s research and social listening has identified that advertising based around “empathy” will be key to driving its newly crystallised purpose.
The positioning comes as consumers increasingly expect brands to stand for something. It also comes on the back of flat sales in major European markets, including Great Britain and France for the business in Q3.
Marking a shift in tone from Coca-Cola’s global ‘Taste the Feeling’ one brand strategy, the new proposition suggests a unified approach to marketing from the brand across Europe and Walter Susini, vice-president of marketing for EMEA was quoted to have said that the campaign had been a long time coming.
“Our brand is about bringing people together. We’ve been doing it for 134 years, it’s not a new, genius idea but we’re going to focus on what we do best, which is unite and uplift,” he said.
Susini underscores how Coke sees itself of having a rich history of doing just that.
In 1964, the when social conservatives in its home city of Atlanta refused to support a dinner honoring Nobel Peace Prize winner Martin Luther King Jr, Coca-Cola’s then chief executive J Paul Austin threatened to remove its HQ from the city – two hours later, every ticket was sold.
The first TV ad is set in a hectic and hostile urban cityscape, and implores viewers to ask the question ‘Can I Be Wrong? Netflix’s Russian Doll star Natasha Lyonne is shown coming to the rescue of a city full of angry citizens with a suggestion that society could change for the better if people claimed responsibility for their actions.
Coke will tout its new positioning at major events like Pride, through its football assets – The Premier League and UEFA Europe – as well as Christmas and other religious holidays.
The campaign will also include digital, OOH, in-store and product executions.
Social listening will be used to track awareness of the campaign, with other KPIs including sales and how Coke is driving conversations around empathy.
Source: The Drum
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES
Comment
No comments found.