2013 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

In order to gain more share of market with the youth audience vs. Pepsi (who has been a predominant player targeting the youth), Coca-Cola needed to promote its brand and its product. It needed to get people to buy into what it believed in, and as a result, buying its product. Therefore, we needed to increase Coke's brand love and brand favouritism, as an effective increase in love and favouritism was reflected in an effective increase in sales.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

We introduced Coke Studio, a multi-channel branded content program, calling the youth to sing together with the world with TV program of 9 episodes on MBC where an influential Arab artist collaborated with a popular international artist to create one original and amazing fusion song. To bring the spirit of fusion to life, we created the region's first live interactive hologram concerts (through holographic projection technology) where youth could perform a live song with Yara, a leading artist, before a concert-like audience, and themselves experience the magic of fusion when people collaborate and sing together, opening happiness through harmony.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

+ 3rd highest ratings on Arab TV vs. other programs in the same time segment + Increased UAE's Brand Love Score reaching 3.1 for the first time ever, while across the region, association with music grew by +6 points and brand favouritism grew by +2 points. + Tens of thousands of mall visitors watched the live hologram concerts, and over 1000 people participated. + YouTube videos got over 1,196,000 video views and 4,020 subscribers; Twitter got over 7,000 followers, and over 400 fan content videos. + Facebook page reached 35% engagement after just 10 weeks. Fans grew to 1.1 million.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

The Middle East has one of the highest youth populations. But, Pepsi dominated the youth’s share of heart and pocket. To win their share of pocket, we needed to win their share of heart. To be successful, brand love needed to be won with a demanding and engaged youth audience. Love would come from tapping into the youth's passions and making them happier. In the past standard promotions on the product hadn't been effective enough to win share of hearts (and pockets). So, we needed to go beyond an oft-trodden and unsuccessful strategy of promotions.