As many people know, I’ve had an interesting relationship with Coca-Cola over the years – based mainly on the fact I’ve always believed they could/should make their ‘optimism’ positioning live waaaaay beyond their print and television advertising obsession.
Whilst I’m proud of some of the work I’ve done with them, I can’t tell you the number of ‘discussions’ I’ve had ‘suggesting’ they stop/reduce their mainstream advertising* and use the cash to develop programs/ideas that can positively affect the lives of youth [rather than just the ad industry] however for a bunch of reasons, I’ve tended to be met with:
“Yes Robert, that’s very interesting, but what about our ad?”
I’ve also banged on how I believe experiential advertising shouldn’t be approached interms of wanting to make people ‘feel good’ about the brand [though obviously it has to do that too] but in finding ways that continually proves the brand is sincere in what it says, believes and does.
Note the word ’CONTINUALLY’ … because doing something positive once, doesn’t mean you don’t have to do it again till you feel the brand is on the wane.
That’s why I like Tesco’s so much, because they continually fight for their customers loyalty – not just through pricing – but through innovation, reinvention and a constant desire to find ways to be relevant in current social/cultural/political and economic circumstances.
[See their 1990’s ‘Computers For School’ promotion as an example of how they infiltrated culture [not just shoppers] and stated to position themselves as a community champion, not just a food retailer]
Anyway it’s for this reason that I prefer to call/approach experiential communication as Brand Truth ideas … and the reason I bring this all up is that whilst it is not exactly fighting for youth optimism on a grand scale, Coke have just done an experiential activity/experiment that not only brings the brands position to life, but makes people probably look a bit differently at Coke vending machines for quite a few months to come.
Wish I’d done it … but then if I had, I’d of encouraged it to be executed in a shitload of places rather than just one so no one could accuse me of doing it just so I could make a viral film out of it.
Ooooooh I am such a cynic.
But well done Coke, it’s a step in the right direction – a bit more and a bit quicker please.
* Lets face it, in many markets their distribution and market share is so strong, the role of their advertising is open to debate, or at the very least, open to spending reduction.