While researching Coca Cola ethical marketing strategies, I came across the blog Outside the Box which featured a post on the exact topic. This post was interesting to me because while I’ve known of Coca Cola’s marketing strategy of “Open Happiness”, I never really knew how they implemented this into real life. Enter in the Share a Coke campaign which “encourage[d] customers to share a moment of happiness with friends, family and loved ones.” This campaign included designing of a can that could be twisted and shared, as well as the “Coca Cola Small World Machines” which allowed people from both India and Pakistan to view each other digitally through the vending machines.
Check out the Small World Machines:
What really caught my attention in the blog was how it talked about messages behind these campaigns. Both ideas promoted a message of community, optimism, and breaking down/overcoming social and cultural barriers. The creativity that went into designing a strategy that was both simple and meaningful is inspiring, and I think its important to know the deeper meanings behind ads besides just the visual appeal. I think this also relates to the idea of shared value, where Coca Cola reinvented its product so that it was not only a profit making drink, but a bridge enabling social connections.