Lighting the Fire (conference notes)
The industry is changing from a focus on push to one on pull. Your search strategy is more vital than ever but content is still king.
Cathryn Sleight, Marketing Director, Coca-Cola Great Britain at Marketing Week Live 2010
Coke has experimented with ‘lighting the fires’ beneath social media with a range of different unique content:
Relentless
An energy drink in direct competition to Red Bull, have taken a multi-platform community marketing approach around the strap line “No Half Measures”. Huge energy & resources put into creating feature length, high art documentaries of extreme sports and music for their ‘Lives of Artists’ campaign.World Cup
A campaign built around the theme of celebration, which ties football closely to Coke’s core ‘joy’ values. As well as a succesful ‘share your celebration’ the team have built in wider CSR links with a rain charity, donating $1,500 every time a player does a celebration in the tournament. They created unique UK viral footage in the form of a video starring Wayne Rooney and comedian James Corden - it’s been a success but personally I think it takes a little long to get to the point.Coke Zero Vs Mentos
When people all over the internet discovered Diet Coke exploded when you dropped Mentos in it they went mad for it, but the marketing team had no idea how to channel this wildness into a brand so firmly targetted at the female market. The launch of Coke Zero gave them a chance to go wild with this internet meme, helping create a coke rocket powered car no less. Although still fan led they paid for the team to have 3D cameras to make the experience all the more special.
There has been an extraordinary rise in the use of social media.
It allows brands to build real communities, like Coca-Cola’s official Facebook page which was originally setup by, and is in fact still run by, a couple of the brand’s biggest fans. Although they contribute to the debate and add extra content into the mix it remains an authentic community.
Above all new digital media builds loyalty.
Coke Zone has 1.7 million registered users in the UK, the biggest FMCG website there is, and average dwell time is an impressive 7.5 minutes.
Do not underestimate the importance of mobile.
Consumers nowadays increasingly expect to be able to access the same content on their desktop, their laptop, their mobile, their iPad… etc. For them there is no difference.
The internet creates brands without borders.
You must work closely with your international teams to have a global perspective on everything you do. It is important for a band to be connected and have the same core message across the globe, even if it is presented differently.
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1 year ago
