2016 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

In the Middle East, Coca-Cola is still competing for the position of market leader. In 2015, we continued our efforts to increase brand love amongst one of the UAE’s largest consumer segments – South Asians. Usually targeted with basic freebies and generic prizes, we needed an insight that our target could truly relate to. We found that the majority of the segment are workers who leave their families and come to the country to be able to provide for their loved ones back home. So we created Wish Upon a Coke – an under the cap promotion and on ground activation where all the prizes and wishes benefitted their families in their home countries. The Coke bottle cap-activated booths were installed in supermarkets and recreation areas frequented by workers across the UAE where they could record their wishes. We then flew to India, Pakistan and the Philippines to grant some of those wishes that were then shared online. The online video got over 4 million views, over 8 million media impressions and an estimated PR value of more than $450,000. Coca-Cola saw a 33% increase in brand love scores, as well as a 15% increase in sales amongst the Asian segment. Though the booths were placed in areas specific to our target, the online video helped contribute to the overall brand image of Coca-Cola, reaching consumers from multiple tiers and around the world. The brand promise of ‘open happiness’ was extended from direct consumers to their families and people around the world.

The Brief

We set out to increase brand love amongst one of the UAE’s largest consumer segments – South Asians. In a segment usually only targeted with basic freebies and generic prizes, we had to tap into an insight that our target could truly relate to. We found that the majority of the consumer segment was made up of people who leave their families back home and come to the country to work so they can provide for them – often on extremely low wages, which they send home every month.

Execution

We ran an under the cap consumer promotion in Supermarkets across the country where all the prizes could be used to benefit the people back home and even shipped home for free. Simultaneously we installed wish booths that were powered by Coca-Cola bottle caps and placed them at supermarkets and popular recreation areas across the UAE, inviting people to record their wishes for their families back home. We then flew to India, Pakistan & the Philippines to make their wishes come true. We built wells in remote farming communities, fixed roofs on homes, secured education funds for children at local schools and started small businesses for families to run. The entire activation was filmed, and the online video that followed was posted to help spread both the idea and results with the rest of the UAE population, and the world.

The consumer promotion ran for 1 month, over xxx prizes were sent home for free to the winners’ home countries. The wish booth logged hundreds of wishes, while the online video took the activation even further with over 4 million views and shares across multiple social media platforms. In addition, over 8 million media impressions and an estimated PR value of 450,000 dollars helped contribute to a 33% increase in brand love, with a 15% increase in sales amongst South Asians in the UAE. Source: Coke Continuous Consumer Tracker 2015.

The Strategy

The promotion and activation was held at supermarkets and recreation areas frequented by our target across the UAE, but the online video that captured the wishes being made and then being fulfilled in their home countries was our tool to extend the happiness. Once shared online, the video quickly got picked up by several media channels and was heavily shared on social platforms. Thanks to the diversity of South Asian nationalities featured in the video itself, Wish Upon a Coke spread across borders and soon became a favourite even in the workers’ home countries.