Category: Best use or integration of music
Advertiser: THE COCA-COLA COMPANY
LONDON OLYMPIC GAMES 2012 - MUSIC TRACK
Product/Service: COCA-COLA
Agency: MOTHER
Agency: CAKE (HAVAS SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT)
Executive Creative Director: Stephen Butler (Mother)
Executive Producer: Al MacCuish (Mother)
Creative: Ana Balarin (Mother)
Creative: Hermeti Balarin (Mother)
Creative: Paddy Fraser (Mother)
Creative: Jasmine Loignon (Mother)
Agency Producer: Lesley Williams (Mother)
Agency Producer: Harriette Larder (Mother)
Planner: Jacob Wright (Mother)
Co-Writer And Producer: Mark Ronson (N/A)
Co-Writer: Katy B (N/A)
Co-Writer: Geenus (N/A)
Music Engineer: Joshua Blair (N/A)
Music Mixer: Tom Elmhirst (Metropolis Studios)
Music Masterer: Stuart Hawkes (Metropolis Mastering London)
Global Creative Director: Mark Whelan (Cake)
Account Director: Andrew Akuffo (Cake)
Creative Planner: Danny Babayemi (Cake)
Creative Director: Mark Waites (Mother)
Media placement: TV - Channel 4, UK - 16 February 2012
Media placement: Music - Music Video On Broadcast TV & Online, Track For Sale On Itunes - 26th March 2012 (Release Date)
Media placement: Live Event - Live Event - 30th Sep 2011
Media placement: Internet Film Series - Facebook, YouTube, Coca-Cola Websites Globally - February 2012
Campaign Description
Branded content is an established sector in the UK, but interest in co-funded content creation has increased since the relaxation of product placement rules for scheduled broadcasting in 2011.]
For the first time in March 2011, brands were allowed to benefit from valuable paid product placement in addition to funding entertainment broadcast programmes, subject to Ofcom guidelines and clarifications to protect the integrity of commercial broadcast programming and the advertising business. The integration of brand messaging and product is also carefully reviewed and assessed by the broadcaster’s editorial team. In the UK it must be made clear to the viewers when a brand has funded a programme and the presence of product placement must be identified with an on-air graphic.
Effectiveness
The objective of this campaign was to use the Olympics to recruit new teen drinkers for Coca-Cola around the world. The challenge was that the Olympics is seen by most teenagers as cold and distant, and not particularly appealing. Our strategy was to focus on a different side of the Olympics – the social side. The Olympics is a coming together of thousands of young athletes who do more than just compete with one another.
We wanted to show athletes, and the Olympics, in an informal, non-competitive fashion, and as an inspiration to teenagers to live a happy, active lifestyle. The creative idea was to create an anthem for the London 2012 Olympics, from the sounds of young Olympians that could get people everywhere moving.
We commissioned Mark Ronson to produce the track and filmed him as he travelled around the world meeting athletes, getting to know them socially and recording their sounds, before inviting them to London to perform the track live with him for a teen audience.
We launched with a live performance event in September 2011, where we created our advertising content and staged the global PR launch. It was attended by 2,000 teenagers and journalists from over 70 countries who subsequently blogged, tweeted and talked about the event. Next we broadcast the documentary, starting with Channel 4 in the UK, on 16th February 2012. It is scheduled to broadcast in a further 49 markets this year. We launched the advertising campaign with a 2 minute spot during the BRIT Awards on ITV in the UK in February, and all advertising directed viewers to video and interactive content online and on mobile.
The track was released for purchase on 26th March and will be accompanied by a music video to be promoted via YouTube and broadcast TV.
Implementation
The documentary was first broadcast in the UK on Channel 4. It was promoted with trailers and listings activity on the TV channels. It is scheduled to broadcast in 50 countries globally, this year.
Following the first broadcast, the content was then made available online in an episodic form. Advertising contained a call to action to visit Coke’s Facebook page, which then had either links to the longer form, embedded, and interactive content online and on mobiles.
Outcome
Previously the maximum number of markets to activate an Olympic campaign within Coca-Cola was 16. We smashed this record with more than 80 markets choosing to activate this campaign at some level. The documentary was watched by nearly half a million viewers during its first broadcast on Channel 4, with 8,000 views to date on its video on demand service. It is scheduled to broadcast in another 49 countries this year. The live event was attended by 2,500 teenagers who generated a social media response which reached over 68m people with a 100% favourable sentiment.