SILVER WINNER: Coca Cola Happiness Factory-II
Client: Coca Cola
Entrant Company: Universal McCann Spain
Entry Category: A Local Brand or Service in a Local Market with innovative media solutions worthy of international adaptation or of world class standards
Names to be credited with submission:
• José Antonio Nogales, Creative Director, Universal McCann Madrid
• Isabel San Segundo, Customer Srvc Managing Dir., Universal McCann Madrid
• Felipe Vizcarrondo, Planning Director, Universal McCann Spain
Time Period of Campaign: Pre-Christmas 2008
Case Study Summary:
Marketing Situation: To celebrate the Christmas holiday season, Coca-Cola launched internationally the longest TV commercial in its history (3’30” duration).
The goal was to increase sales over the previous year, despite a lesser budget allocation. The commercial also needed to be adapted to Spanish tastes and customs while ensuring the integrity of this long-form TV commercial. An added challenge was working during the period of the year with the highest levels of advertising saturation.
Key Insights: To better stand out during so busy a season, a strategy emerged to go beyond advertising and focus on content. Given the long format of the commercial, it made sense to consider it as if it were the premiere of an important movie production.
The commercial concept transformed to the “Christmas movie of the year,” with promotion in appropriate media vehicles and channels. The tactics included a first phase aimed at creating a buzz around the upcoming premiere and a second phase which focused on making the premiere a huge event.
Media Strategy: In both of these phases, the key media tactics revolved around targeting tailor-made messages to each specific media channel, seamlessly integrating them as part of the whole campaign message..
Phase 1: Creating a buzz.
Taking a cue from Hollywood movie studios, the campaign was broadcast as a movie preview on all the national television channels. Posters featuring the dates of various local premieres were also designed and distributed. Trailers could also be downloaded from the Internet, along with additional extra content.
Several infotainment channels, such as the press and radio, reported on the big event, calling for spectators to watch the TV premiere.
Phase 2: The Premiere
When the big day arrived the commercial was broadcast on all the national television channels at the same time (100% Prime Time), and there was just one showing. The movie was preceded by a title heading – produced expressly for its broadcast in Spain – imitating the title heading of Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Internet users could watch their own premiere on the Net.
Later, just like in all big premieres, the movie was distributed on DVD together with the Sunday edition of El Mundo, one of the Spanish broadsheets with the highest print circulation in the country.
Lastly, and in the true spirit of Christmas, the movie was projected on a giant screen located on one of the main buildings in Madrid’s city center. Many of its main characters took part in the famous annual “Three Kings” Christmas parade, with an attendance of close to one million people.
How Could this be a Template for Other Campaigns or for World Class Standards?
The key to this campaign ultimately lay in analyzing the specific problems, and then finding opportunities to turn them into an effective communication strategy.
Every brand and product has particular needs that demand unique methods of communication, depending on the market and its situation. The search for innovation requires finding the specific solution for each campaign and its particular demands.
Results: Awareness ratings revealed that 350,000 of the mentions attributed to the brand identified the campaign piece as a movie and not as a TV commercial (source: Imop).
More than two million mentions were recorded on Google, and the digital version downloads of the movie characters were a huge success (1.353.000 downloads of the special Theme Pack for MSN Messenger).
Coca Cola sales in Spain were higher than the previous year’s Christmas period even though the advertising budget was significantly lower. |
