Dubai: The cap pops. The fizz rings in the ears. Droplets are seen.
People are enjoying the drink with a big smile on. The moment is captured. The end is the Spenserian script and the red disc.
Yes ... You guessed right. This is the gist of Coca-Cola’s new “One Brand” marketing campaign.
The global campaign unites all of its products for the first time, including Coke light and zero, under the theme: “Taste the Feeling”.
Already making its appearance in some key markets, it will hit the streets of the Middle East in the first half of the year.
As usual, there will be several elements built around the theme, including as many as 10 commercials, 100 campaign images, a new music anthem and audio signature.
“The cost of the campaign is much less than you can imagine ... and it is much more than what I would have liked,” said Marcos De Quinto, Chief Marketing Officer at Coca-Cola Company.
De Quinto visited Dubai last week to participate in the announcement of the campaign. Similar events were held last month in Paris and Hong Kong.
De Quinto said, “All consumers in the world are important to us ... different regions have different characteristics.”
Sales growth is accelerating in the region, according to him. The official said the campaign’s preparatory work started in February last year by offering several agencies the necessary briefing. “By September, we already had more or less finalised the campaign. The only thing is that we were waiting for this year to launch the campaign and not to launch at the end of 2015. It was unusual work to do it so fast.”
The campaign comes amid increasing voices being heard about more healthy and sugar-free diets.
Commenting on whether such calls constitute a major challenge to Coca-Cola, De Quinto said, “Soft drinks are not bad ... not bad at all. The problem is consumption of sugar. Soft drinks, some of them, have sugar. But sugar can be found in many (other) products.
“The difference is that the Coca-Cola company, first of all, has launched a range of products that gives choice to consumers and they can choose a sugar version or a non-sugar version. So you don’t have to abandon your product and your brand, because they all have the same brand and they all have the same personality.
“The only thing is that we, sometimes, attract a lot of attention because of importance of the brand.”
During the presentations to launch the campaign, it was shown that Coca-Cola ranks third among global brands, after Google and Apple. “Global brand has to make a global voice with a local touch in every community,” said Rodolfo Echeverria, Vice-President, Global Creative Connections and Digital at the company.
“Taste the Feeling” will come in many languages, he added, in reference to the different versions of the ads and commercials. In this region, the campaign will be launched first in Morocco in early March, before being seen across the Gulf in the second half of the year. The company’s has 15 bottlers and 25 plants across the region.
The anthem that comes with the television commercials is an original song. One of the commercials shown during the presentation is titled “Brotherly Love” and ‘captures the universal story of love and conflict between family … when the younger brother finds himself without his ice-cold Coca-Cola, his big brother comes to the rescue.’
