A Case Study Of Coca-Cola’s Social Media Campaign

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In March 2012, Coca-Cola engaged its 40 million Facebook fans in solving URL riddles leading to animated sitelets. As soon as I saw this campaign, my right brain immediately exclaimed “What a creative way to engage your community!” and my left-brain retorted “Is it really worth it? Isn’t it just a gadget? How is it going to increase the sales of Coca-Cola?”

The truth is that I might have missed the point. The point is that they managed to reinforce their positioning as well as their sense of community. After all, most ads don’t sell products – they serve a positioning purpose. People buy according to their needs, values, and beliefs. Only vendors and salespeople sell. In any way, my personal opinions do not change the measurable results of the campaign[1]:

  • Over 16 million views
  • Over 6 million visitors
  • 282,240 Facebook likes
  • An average of 4 minutes of dwell time (46 years of happiness)

Another fact is that Coca-Cola has increased its Facebook fan base from 40 million in May 2012 to 63 million today. While Alison Lewis (senior vice president of marketing for Coke in North America) admits to Forbes magazine that online display ads work about as well as TV, she also confesses the buzz had no measurable impact on short-term sales. Nonetheless, she believes the best campaigns are those that weave 30-second TV spots and social media together to feed on each other and get consumers more engaged.

She adds, “The reality is that we’re learning our way through this stuff (social media). The consumer engagement model is changing. It’s really about networks, connectivity and conversations, and the combination creates scale through those connections.[2]

Indeed, the traditional advertising model is changing with social media, especially since tablets and smartphones are becoming such an important part of everybody’s life.

If there is something to be learned from this campaign, it is that sometimes it is not possible to quantify your ROI with precision, but it does not mean that your efforts are worthless. Loyalty to the brand can be measured to a certain degree with the number of fans on social media. Fans clearly take the time to play, share and talk about the brands they enjoy. This is why I encourage you to stay at the top of your game by engaging your community in addition to paid media. Be creative and try to go beyond the basic photo post and question.

[1] http://www.siteletofsitelets.com/
[2] http://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthof/2012/05/15/coca-colas-new-world-of-marketing-facebook-tv-sales/

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