The Brief

In recent years Coca-Cola has seen ongoing increases in external pressure in Australia. The simple truth is, Coca-Cola doesn’t need to get people to think differently. It needs to get them to act differently – to pick us up rather than pass us by. Last year, Coca-Cola set the bar high with their ‘Share a Coke’ campaign. We needed to exceed it with a promotion that raised sales not just engagement – and we needed to do it with less money than last year.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

2012 was Coca-Cola’s 75th year in Australia, so we decided to celebrate the moments that mattered most. We partnered with Spotify and Universal Music to turn Coke packs into ‘digital jukeboxes’; on each pack was printed a year, between 1938 and 2012. When scanned with a smartphone, 50 classic tracks from that year were unlocked. These songs could be streamed and shared with friends and family – along with the memories they inspired. Our objectives were to deliver a volume increase nearly four times as great as the actual increase experienced during the ‘Share a Coke’.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

Australia shared songs, they shared moments, and most significantly, they shared packs of Coke. 240,000,000 unique packs were sold. Volume grew 11.5%. 1.2 million songs were streamed. People spent an average of 5+ minutes on the app. The Coke app went into the top 20 on Spotify. Facebook engagement increased 400% with 73,000 new likes. ‘Brand love’ increased =4 points to 46%

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

Our solution was a ‘pack-back’ idea, meaning it was essential that consumers interacted with Coca-Cola products. It inextricably linked Coca-Cola with a fundamental long-term property – music – in an innovative and modern way and turned their packs into all-singing, all-dancing proofs of Coca-Cola’s ‘Open Happiness’ promise. The mechanic of moments and memories, created a clear and compelling reason for consumers to share their experiences with others. We significantly added value to the packs by turning them into 1. Physical mementos of significant years. 2. Interactive, digital musical instruments. 3. A portal to stream and share content with friends and family.