Coca-Cola Unveils Global Brand Marketing Strategy

ATLANTA — The Coca-Cola Co. is uniting its Coca-Cola beverage brands under one global marketing strategy for the first time.

Chief Marketing Officer Marcos de Quinto revealed the creative campaign at a media event in Paris. The "One Brand" global marketing strategy brings together Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Light/Diet Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero and Coca-Cola Life under the iconic Coca-Cola brand positioning in one global creative campaign, themed "Taste the Feeling."

The "One Brand" strategy:

• Extends the global equity and iconic appeal of original Coca-Cola across the trademark, uniting the Coca-Cola family under the world's No. 1 beverage brand.
• Comes to life in a global campaign that uses universal storytelling and everyday moments to connect with consumers around the world.
• Features the product at the heart of the creative, celebrating the experience and simple pleasure of drinking a Coca-Cola, any Coca-Cola.
• Underscores the company's commitment to choice, allowing consumers to choose whichever Coca-Cola suits their taste, lifestyle and diet.

"Every day, millions of people around the world reach for an ice-cold Coca-Cola," de Quinto said. "The new 'One Brand' approach will share the equity of Coca-Cola, across all Coca-Cola trademark products, reinforcing our commitment to offer consumers choice with more clarity. This is a powerful investment behind all Coca-Cola products, showing how everyone can enjoy the specialness of an ice-cold Coca-Cola, with or without calories, with or without caffeine."

The strategy moves the company away from multiple brand campaigns, "to one single iconic brand campaign that celebrates both the product and the brand," he added. 

"Taste the Feeling" will roll out at various times across all markets globally this year and will come to life through a number of elements, including: 10 television commercials; 100-plus campaign images; new visual identity system; new music anthem and audio signature; and a shareable and customizable interactive digital experience. 

According to the company, the creative campaign is anchored in the fundamentals of the Coca-Cola brand — the Spencerian script, the red disc and the iconic glass bottle  — but with a modern take, featuring authentic and real moments with the product at center stage.

Coca-Cola reached out to 10 different agencies to begin the development process, and ultimately the 10 television commercials created for the campaign were produced by Mercado-McCann, Sra. Rushmore, Santo, and Oglivy & Mather New York. 

"There is nothing quite like the taste of an ice-cold Coca-Cola", said Rodolfo Echeverria, vice president, global creative, connections and digital, The Coca-Cola Co. "The campaign creative was designed to celebrate the notion that the simple pleasure of drinking an ice-cold Coca-Cola makes any moment more special. The universal moments and storytelling depicted in the campaign were created to resonate with our consumers globally. The same images and television creative in Japan will also be seen in Italy, in Mexico and around the world."

At launch, five of the 10 spots will be released. The lead television spot, "Anthem," (Mercado-McCann) comes to life through a series of ordinary moments linked by a Coca-Cola, such as ice-skating with friends, a first date, a first kiss and a first love. The spot will run in all markets in 2016.

The 100-plus campaign images were shot by fashion photographers Guy Aroch and Nacho Ricci. The new campaign imagery will be used in print advertising, out-of-home billboards, in-store, and digital media.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola's beverage portfolio is led by Coca-Cola and features several $20-billion brands including Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, vitaminwater, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply, Georgia, Dasani, Fuze Tea and Del Valle.