Believing is Magic- a Coca-Cola campaign
About last night — I almost chewed my nails off while sitting cross legged on my futon as I nervously watched the last innings of the most anticipated India vs Pakistan World T20 Cricket match. Imagine my elation as I saw my home country, India, winning the match and listening to the loud roar and chants from the live audience. The anticipation, excitement and tremendous joy you feel while watching sports is unfathomable. Sports enthusiasts get so caught up in the game, they call off from any prior appointments, bet and gamble on their favorite teams, follow superstitions and pray to the higher power (atheists do too sometimes) and finally exhale a sigh of relief or ball their eyes out depending on whether their team wins or loses. Every sports fan emotes the same way, regardless of the sport, nation or team.
Similarly, there aren’t enough words to describe the FIFA World Cup, which is by far the largest sporting competition in the world, uniting people from all walks of life every four years. As anticipation builds for the November kickoff of the FIFA World Cup 2022™ in Qatar, Coca-Cola (a long-standing sponsor of the tournament) is celebrating the passionate journey of football fans through the “Believing is Magic” global campaign. The brand is well aware of the array of emotions people go through when they follow a sport and they chose to use the opportunity to validate these emotions. They embraced a marketing model that is focused on adding and retaining consumers through experiences that link consumption with consumer passions.
According to the press release by The Coca Cola co.,The “Believing is Magic” campaign is the latest iteration of the brand’s “Real Magic” platform, which launched in September 2021 with a focus on shared moments. The new campaign focuses on authentic moments of connection between fans and the beliefs, rituals and promises that World Cup fandom entails. A hero film shows a football fan imagining their team winning the World Cup and the ensuing celebration.
Coca-Cola spearheaded the campaign by releasing three digital films — “Tattoo,” “Shave” and “Run” — that revolve around the promises fans make if their teams win. Taglines like “If we win I’ll get a tattoo” will also feature on special “promise” packaging. Press releases also tease future opportunities for consumers to share their own promises for possible inclusion in packaging, digital content and outdoor creative.
The beauty of this campaign is that Coca-Cola is giving its consumers the opportunity to share their stories and enthusiasm, while skilfully using this as user generated content to promote their brand campaign. They promoted the campaign through TV and digital media, mainly YouTube, to tease its audience, partnered with Panini, the official licensed sticker album of the FIFA World Cup 2022™, on 14 exclusive player stickers fans can collect and trade physically and digitally, and working with retail partners to create in-person opportunities for fans to come together, trade stickers and create digital albums. The Coca-Cola Company saw net revenues grow 12% to $11.3 billion in Q2 2022 shortly after the release of the campaign.The integration of digital and physical platforms, and linking consumption pattern with consumer passions were key to success of the campaign, globally.
I have spoken so much about Coca Cola, now I have a craving for it. So kindly excuse me while I run to my kitchen and crack open a cold one.
Until then,
Your budding marketer,
Varsha.
