Brief Explanation

OVERVIEW The Coca-Cola Company’s Live Positively Program in 2011 through its’ Plant Billboard execution aimed to provoke social conversations around environmental conservation in the country and around the world, as well as, inspire people to take part in The Coca-Cola Company’s sustainability programs. This execution aims to uplift and strengthen The Coca-Cola Company’s corporate reputation scores and increase sustainability metrics for flagship brand Coca-Cola. STRATEGY Manila is the 8th most polluted Asian City. Its main artery, EDSA is 3 times more polluted than anywhere in the country. Life for the residents in Manila is distressing. Communicating the concept of sustainability to a third-world society that’s focused more on day-to-day survival is a challenged. In order to appeal to break through the skepticism and perceived irrelevance, the strategy was simple: Less Talk, More Action. Beyond the billboard that just talks about saving the environment, we created one that actually did its part of solving Manila’s pollution problem. An environmentally proactive installation on the country’s most polluted strip of highway. CREATIVE EXECUTION The Coca-Cola Living Billboard It is the country’s first breathing billboard that absorbs almost 47,000 lbs. of pollution a year. A creative concept that showcase Coca-Cola’s commitment and sincerity in making a positive difference to the environment. A billboard made with thousands of Fukien tea plants. A plant type that is quite common in the Philippines. To sustain the plants, we developed a unique water system that recycles water and precisely distributes it to each plant on a 60 ft. x 60 ft. structure. Location is at Epifanio de los Santos Ave the most polluted thoroughfare in the country. The Coca-Cola Company conducted a PR event right at the site of the billboard. Leading local dailies and TV stations were invited to the event and witness the unveiling of the billboard. A day after the launch, the unveiling landed on the front page of the country’s top broadsheet newspaper as well as Local TV and radio features. International media pick-ups immediately followed by Forbes, Huffington Post, Ad Age, Ad forum and others. RESULTS The Coca-Cola Company was also able to centralized investments with this groundbreaking execution that single-handedly created buzz through Earned Media (ROI of 1.122.8). Instead of depending on media to buy reach, The Living Billboard efficiently WIN reach and more importantly improve key imagery and corporate reputation attributes of the Coca-Cola brand.