Malaysian Media Awards Winners Showcase
2010 | Finalist | Best Use of Radio
Advertiser: The Coca-Cola Company Brand: Coca-Cola Creative Agency: - Credits: Rina Low (Associate Director), Lee Pea Ling (Assistant Media Manager), Dzeti Mohamed (Senior Planner), Farriz Yousof (Media Buyer), Clarence Koh (Associate Brand Director, McCann Erickson), Azhari Ishak (Brand Manager, McCann Erickson)
Challenge
2009 was a tough year and as people geared up to lead more restrained lives, impulse drinks like Coca-Cola feared being deprioritized. Our challenge was to bring alive Coca-Cola’s unique intrinsic taste that triggers people to taste Coke’s tantalizing fizz and feel its uplifting and refreshing effect.
Solution
It was time to romance Coke and bring alive some of the timeless rituals about the drink.
We defined the ritual of a perfect drink of Coca-Cola to be savored at 3PM at 3°C with 3 cubes of ice. Radio with highest consumption in afternoons for youth was perfectly placed to create the impulse.
Coca-Cola 333 – an urban legend – was born. Coca-Cola signature audio cues were used to tease the imagination and trigger cravings.
Execution
First Time ever across biggest youth radio stations, we had hourly branded song segments, announced after opening a can of Coca-Cola with its refreshing signature sounds – clunk, psst, pour, glug…glug…glug, ahhhhh – cueing the release of stimulating and uplifting songs. Radio cruisers followed sampling crews to 39 locations, imparting habit of drinking Coca-Cola at 3pm when they are exhausted and at 3° for ultimate refreshment. Soon Coca-Cola 333 became a ritual for people to follow.
Results
Youth preference scores soared with an increase of 25% upon activation. Popularity of the activation brought about replication by other advertisers on radio. Due to overwhelming response, thousands of Coke cans were wiped out before sampling event ended.
