Coca-Cola
Music Promotion 2007
For the fourth year in a row, the Coca-Cola Company assigned to Upstream its yearly on-pack mobile promotion. The promotion was recognized as the best direct marketing campaign of the year in the ERMIS advertising awards . In contrast to competitor brands, Coca-Cola chose to embrace a “music for all” concept, inviting participants to embark on a music journey themselves, instead of focusing on celebrities. Mobile and WAP were deemed to be ideal vehicles for bringing this interactive experience close to thousands of Coca- Cola consumers.
Objectives
- Increase the frequency of sales by engaging participants in an interactive mobile journey
- Build on brand equity by creating a linkage with one of the target’s key passion points — music
- Converse with thousands of people on a one-to-one basis by addressing an area of their interest and gather data on their tastes and preferences
The Campaign
Consumers were prompted to join the campaign via ATL and a direct invitation featured on all Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Light and Coca-Cola Zero packs, from May 1st to July 19th, 2007.
In order to participate in the promotion users had to send via SMS to a dedicated short code, the unique alphanumeric code found on Coca-Cola packs. The idea was that participants began their music journey as music amateurs, with the final goal of becoming “stars.” Each code sent, awarded participants with “fans” (participations in the prize draws) and brought them closer to becoming “stars.” The music journey resembled a musician’s career, where users could organize their own music concert, launch their own album or even receive a music award! As they gained more fans, participants “unlocked” more features of the mobile experience and won free Coca-Cola mobile content, developed by Upstream specifically for this campaign.
By using Upstream’s sophisticated segmentation and personalization CRM platofrm, TCCC was able to converse with its customers on a one-to-one basis, by tailoring the music journey to different customer clusters’ tastes and preferences.
In line with Coca-Cola’s collective values, the campaign also included a peer-to-peer element. Participants could compete against each other by joining a “Music Tribe,” according to their music preferences (e.g. rockers joined the “Rock Tribe”; R&B fans joined the “R&B” Tribe etc.) They thereby entered the “Battle of the Tribes,” which was essentially a competition on the number of fans collected by each “Music Tribe.”
Prizes
Matching the promotion’s theme, all prizes were related to music and chosen so as to attract the audience to an area of its interest, while having a mass appeal:
- Every hour, one participant won a collectible Coca-Cola branded iPod Nano, 2 GB, on an instant win basis
- Every day, one participant won a collectible Coca-Cola branded iPod, 30 GB
- Every week, one lucky participant won a VIP trip for two, to attend the Coca Cola Super Star concert, featuring artists from all over Europe
Everybody Wins!
Throughout the “Coca-Cola Music Promotion 2007”, all participants had the option to download Coca-Cola branded mobile and web music-related content including Java Games, Realtones, Ringtones, Wallpapers and Screensavers. Upstream undertook the development of a number of unique Java games, designed especially for the campaign.
Results
The use of the “music journey” approach, coupled with Upstream’s personalization methodology and innovative mobile content produced a fully engaging customer experience. Departing from basic “text & win” promotions, the “Coca-Cola Music Promotion 2007” achieved an impressively high average participation rate per consumer that was about three times the European market average.
Upstream undertook all the key deliverables in the project. I can recommend Upstream as a partner of choice for anyone looking to run a similar activity 
For the fourth year in a row, the Coca-Cola Company assigned to Upstream its yearly on-pack mobile promotion. The promotion was recognized as the best direct marketing campaign of the year in the ERMIS advertising awards . In contrast to competitor brands, Coca-Cola chose to embrace a “music for all” concept, inviting participants to embark on a music journey themselves, instead of focusing on celebrities. Mobile and WAP were deemed to be ideal vehicles for bringing this interactive experience close to thousands of Coca- Cola consumers.
Consumers were prompted to join the campaign via ATL and a direct invitation featured on all Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Light and Coca-Cola Zero packs, from May 1st to July 19th, 2007.
In order to participate in the promotion users had to send via SMS to a dedicated short code, the unique alphanumeric code found on Coca-Cola packs. The idea was that participants began their music journey as music amateurs, with the final goal of becoming “stars.” Each code sent, awarded participants with “fans” (participations in the prize draws) and brought them closer to becoming “stars.” The music journey resembled a musician’s career, where users could organize their own music concert, launch their own album or even receive a music award! As they gained more fans, participants “unlocked” more features of the mobile experience and won free Coca-Cola mobile content, developed by Upstream specifically for this campaign.
By using Upstream’s sophisticated segmentation and personalization CRM platofrm, TCCC was able to converse with its customers on a one-to-one basis, by tailoring the music journey to different customer clusters’ tastes and preferences.
In line with Coca-Cola’s collective values, the campaign also included a peer-to-peer element. Participants could compete against each other by joining a “Music Tribe,” according to their music preferences (e.g. rockers joined the “Rock Tribe”; R&B fans joined the “R&B” Tribe etc.) They thereby entered the “Battle of the Tribes,” which was essentially a competition on the number of fans collected by each “Music Tribe.”
Matching the promotion’s theme, all prizes were related to music and chosen so as to attract the audience to an area of its interest, while having a mass appeal:
Throughout the “Coca-Cola Music Promotion 2007”, all participants had the option to download Coca-Cola branded mobile and web music-related content including Java Games, Realtones, Ringtones, Wallpapers and Screensavers. Upstream undertook the development of a number of unique Java games, designed especially for the campaign.
The use of the “music journey” approach, coupled with Upstream’s personalization methodology and innovative mobile content produced a fully engaging customer experience. Departing from basic “text & win” promotions, the “Coca-Cola Music Promotion 2007” achieved an impressively high average participation rate per consumer that was about three times the European market average.