The Campaign

Chinese New Year (CNY) is the most important festival in China. After 2008’s highs (Olympics) and lows (snowstorms, earthquakes), the 2009 CNY had renewed meaning for Chinese youth as a powerful ignition point for individual optimism and positivity for the year ahead, and reconnection with loved ones. As a beacon of hope and positivity, Coke wanted to provide ways for people to connect, and express their feelings, personally and virtually - Coke created a modern ritual of giving someone their ‘First Coke of the Year’ as a small, yet symbolic way of passing on their hopes and optimism for the year. In a market where the festival is always inundated by “advertising wallpaper” characterized by traditional, superficial family or zodiac year celebrations, the campaign achieved its objectives of breaking the content clutter, establishing a meaningful role of the brand, and triggered an unprecedented amount of engagement and participation.

Success of the Campaign

The campaign provoked high levels of consumer engagement and participation: -- 72+ million iCoke.cn page views -- 18+ million Liu Xiang TVC views -- 16+ million FCOY e-cards sent -- 5+ million FCOY stories submitted: Including 64,104 videos, from 5-minutes length to emotional personal stories [Source: wwwins Consulting Tracking System] The campaign broke the clutter and generated media buzz: -- Estimated RMB71,600,726 free exposure through 385+ Print and Web clippings plus 110,000 related blog views - On TV, 3,040 minutes of reports, covering 150 China channels, including CCTV 1 & 5 [Source: MS&L Public Relations: China] Continued driving Coca-Cola favourite brand preference over Pepsi -- Drove brand preference over Pepsi +19% vs. past CNY [Source: Coca-Cola Campaign Tracker (12-49 years old)] All to show the insight’s power and Coca-Cola First Coke of the Year’s potential to be a modern ritual within a centuries-old tradition.

Describe how the campaign/entry was launched and executed across each channel in the order of implementation.

Creating the ritual of ‘First Coke of the Year’ (FCOY) was two-pronged: Create Mythology Coca-Cola kicked off the calendar New Year with a live-TV event, featuring celebrities giving their FCOY out to someone special. Launched through TV, online and taxi-backs over the weeks leading to CNY, Coke told the story of why Liu Xiang, China’s most hopeful and heart-wrenching Olympics hero, gives his FCOY to his own father, calling on consumers to do the same for their loved ones. This was supported by continuous real FCOY stories told through PR and OOH. Provide Ways to Participate Throughout CNY Virtually: Consumers dedicated and sent their FCOY wishes and uploaded their stories via iCoke.cn, SMS and other popular social networking/video posting sites. In-Person: Customizable bottles allowed FCOY to be physically passed on. Big ‘wishing boards’ were placed in key commercial areas for people to write and post their messages.