GOLD MEDAL MOMENTS

Short List
TitleGOLD MEDAL MOMENTS
BrandCOCA-COLA BEVERAGES CHINA
Product / ServiceCOCA-COLA
CategoryA01. Best Use of Television/Cinema
EntrantRED LOUNGE Shanghai, CHINA
Entrant Company:RED LOUNGE Shanghai, CHINA
Advertising Agency:RED LOUNGE Shanghai, CHINA
2nd Advertising Agency:LEO BURNETT SHANGHAI, CHINA
Media Agency:STARCOM Shanghai, CHINA

Credits

Results and Effectiveness

NO OTHER OLYMPICS SPONSOR HAD THIS PRIVILEGE, vital to Coca-Cola's goal of being the most associated Olympics sponsor. • Only 9th in spent, Coca-Cola was 3rd in ratings, given the record breaking amount of China Golds. • Highest awareness: 50% of respondents called Coke the sponsor of the Olympics, with 86%+ calling out Coke after prompt (R3 Olympics Tracking, Aug-Sept 2008) • Increases in consumption and sales share, up +0.7 points vs. YA (15.3%) and up +0.5 points (24.8%) respectively (ACNielsen Retail Audit, National, 10/2008 MAT) • Press praise as '...by far the most successful brand in leveraging its (Olympics) Sponsorship' (Mediaedge, 8/2008)

Creative Execution

With these big goals and limited budget (compared to the larger CCTV players), we created WHAT WAS NOT FOR SALE. Negotiating a one-of-a-kind sponsorship on CCTV, we gained the exclusive privilege and reactivity of airing 5 seconds and 10 seconds 'Coca-Cola China Pride, Gold Medal Moment' spots immediately after EVERY Chinese Gold Medal win and just before every award ceremony where China won Gold. Each ad ended with Coke's iconic graphic identity, the contoured bottle, coming to life. Real fans celebrated and cheered live, seeming to jump straight out of the bottle in this, the most exciting time of China's fans' lives. The campaign was then maximized across all CCTV platforms: every channel the Games aired on (CCTV-1, 2, 5 and 7), CCTV.com and CCTV Newspapers plus being replicated on CCTV's IP, Mobile and HDTV platforms, making Coca-Cola an unmistakable part of the entire Gold Medal viewing experience.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games stood to be the most cluttered, 'competitive' marketing event ever, with 41 'sponsors' buying into China's national CCTV broadcast coverage. Even as a global sponsor, Coca-Cola looked to be edged out of the spotlight, ranking only 9th with its CCTV investment. For the Chinese people, this was always the 'China Games', an opportunity to shine for the world. They had a personal, emotional stake in the success of the Games and their athletes. Optimism, anticipation and engagement were unprecedented. When China wins an Olympic gold medal, every individual in China wins that gold medal. Known as an Olympics sponsor, Coke needed consumers to see them as part of China's Olympics, embodying what the Olympics meant to China, connecting as a brand with all the consumer excitement. IDEA: Own that ultimate MOMENT of national pride; leverage Coke's Olympic connection in a way no other sponsor could.