GRAND PRIX

Coca-Cola "Polar Bowl"
Starcom MediaVest Group

Coca-Cola Polar Bowl showed inventive use of the phone, tablet and computer in concert with television, which may be shifting our thinking of the “2nd screen” to primary focus.

The Super Bowl – THE pop culture event of the year and the largest social TV event recorded to date – was the perfect opportunity to bring Coca-Cola’s iconic polar bears to life and participate in shared moments of angst, celebration, humor, and happiness-- especially now that Super Bowl TV viewers stay within “arms-reach” of their laptop, mobile or tablet device during the broadcast.

SMG partnered with Wieden + Kennedy and Coca-Cola to launch the “Coke Polar Bowl,” a real-time, second-screen experience in which consumers watched the game right alongside the polar bears. The two animated bears, one sporting a red scarf in support of the New York Giants, the other wearing a blue and grey scarf for the New England Patriots, reacted in real-time to what was actually happening in the game, off the field and during commercials. The polar bears became just two more friends to watch the game with-- reacting to the action just like you.

The livestream experience worked seamlessly across Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, enabling frictionless interaction with the content. The Polar Bowl was easily discoverable through the Super Bowl conversation taking place on these channels. Users could engage with live tweets from the polar bears and share video clips of the polar bears’ game reactions with friends. The polar bears would even interact directly with participating fans, proudly displaying their ‘PawPads’ to show fans they were receiving all of the pictures and tweets.

Coca-Cola was able to capitalize on the social element of an important pop culture TV event by driving conversation and a unique participatory experience across touch points. Their approach to personifying the beloved polar bears, getting consumer involvement, and dynamically tailoring their message to real-time situations was revolutionary and game changing in how a brand breaks through the noise and clutter that exists around these iconic events.

The Giants weren’t the only winners of Super Bowl 46 – Coca-Cola was a winner too! The Polar Bowl generated unprecedented levels of engagement, conversation and positive sentiment. The Polar Bowl livestream garnered an amazing 9MM total digital streams and 28 minutes of average viewing time, which far exceeded the 10 minute industry benchmark for live stream viewership. Additionally, the Coke Polar Bowl catapulted Coca-Cola into the cultural conversation like never before.