When asked to conjure an image that represents a brand, our culture is likely to think of logos or trademarks that are recognizable by their presence on many of the brand’s products, not an entire species of animals.  The same can’t be said for Coca Cola, who has managed to integrate polar bears into a vital part of their brand image and advertising campaigns across the globe.  Recently winning the Brand Icon Award from the CLIO Awards, Coca Cola was recognized for leveraging innovative advertising techniques to increase their brand equity.  Coca Cola has used their polar bear campaign, which has been part of print-advertising since 1922, to “epitomize the cheerful, heart-warming atmosphere that Coca Cola is hoping to bring” to their consumers.

Teaming with the World Wildlife Fund, Coca Cola has reduced greenhouse gas emissions themselves, as well as promoted sustainable living by educating North Americans on climate change solutions.  This initiative, which has largely differentiated Coca Cola from their main competitor Pepsi, shows the company’s concern for the environment, and more specifically how climate change will negatively impact their mascot, the polar bear.  As providers of a convenience product that consumers are largely price sensitive towards, having a brand that advocates for the extremely relevant social issue of sustainable living and preventing climate change will allow Coca Cola to capture consumers that are not strictly loyal to a specific soft drink company.  Not only does Coca Cola hope to capitalize on corporate social responsibility, but they also hope to appeal to the psychographic aspects of the consumers that fosters a visceral reaction by relating polar bears to a sense of family and love.  And that being said, after the animated commercials directed by famed Ridley Scott, one of which depicts an adorable family of polar bears building a “snow bear” together, who can resist buying a Coca Cola product that has the very same polar bear on the can?