The reason why I chose this 130 year old cola giant company is because of its unending effort towards constructive and meaningful marketing efforts. The marketing done by this brand is heartfelt , emotional , touching and essentially moving . It is truly inspiring to see how this brand has created and sustained a monopoly over a single drink that brings nothing but joy to every single one of us. Among the plethora of campaigns undertaken by Coca-Cola, the one that I want to emphasize on, is the beautiful campaign executed in the Middle East during the month of Ramadan, which was released to primarily promote tolerance, equality and justice.
The two minute thirty two second video starts with how we judge people and develop prejudices within the first seven seconds of interacting with them. Coca Cola invited six strangers, who had to interact with one another without lighting. Through conversations , each person developed notions about the others and when the lights were turned on , they were all taken aback by their ironic assumptions.The campaign draws attention to how we quickly jump to conclusions and rely on preconceived notions towards each other.
This campaign left an indelible imprint in my mind. It made me think , ponder, introspect and most importantly , celebrate – celebrate the differences among us – differences on the bases of our creed , color, gender, religion , caste or status. It makes us defy the norms of the society and look inside the heart of every soul and love one another unequivocally , without a shred of superiority. Every time I see a label , I am reminded of this campaign and how simply it tarnishes the deeply engrained feelings of discrimination among us. The video takes me on an emotional roller coaster ride and makes me teary eyed even after watching it a countless number of times. I think the brand has been very successful because it managed combine marketing and social activism on a digital platform. The video managed to instill a feeling of love and oneness among people and even urged people to imbibe in themselves , patience and tolerance.
The place where I thought they fell short was the lack of women in the video. Had I been in the marketing team , what I’d do differently is that I would put women in the video too and go beyond the prejudice of gender. It could be controversial or even revolutionary but it was my heart immediately said after I watched the video. My other problem with the campaign was the limited-time it aired for due to its Ramadan theme.The short time period raises questions pertaining to the long-term impact in the perceptions of people towards their near and far ones.
The advertisement that was made in collaboration with FP7/DXB and Memac Ogilvy used digital tools such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram , made the campaign more real and easier to relate to. The campaign received an enormous amount of shares , likes and mentions in social media with people discussing ideas about creating the world into a melting pot of cultures.
I would just say that the campaign was heartwarming, went beyond stereotypes and broke the restraints of the deeply embedded norms of the society. This attempt superimposed with the brand’s happiness forte made it very powerful to me so much so that every time I buy a can of Coca-Cola , I know that I am having a drink by a company that believes in an egalitarian world. Coca Cola has had a tradition of adding culture to their advertisements, they don’t just sell bottles of an aerated drink , they sell bubbles of effervescent happiness.
Bhavini Khullar 