Start with a strong, globally recognized brand. Add online consumer interaction, three energetic travelers, one fabulous website, 206 countries, 365 days, mix with happiness, and there you have it: Coca-Cola’s world-wide marketing plan. And it’s going strong.

The company is in the middle of promoting Coke with its “Open Happiness” campaign. See our previous post here for details. It’s an interesting mix of real people, traveling all over the world, with the use of several social media sites, primarily Expedition206.com. Coke says it’s aware that the ultimate goal is not just more clicks on Expedition206.com, but it’s not balking at the success it’s having online so far. Consumers voted for the team that is currently traveling, and now fans are making suggestions of where they should visit or eat.

Will the campaign have enough interest to maintain its audience? Amy Bruckman of Georgia Tech’s College of Computing is skeptical, saying, “The spreading happiness theme is maybe a little bland. How do you get people to care? The question for Coke is, ‘How are you going to get (the audience) interested in these people?’ I’m not riveted.”

Then, of course, there’s the real question: Will Expedition 206 sell more Coke?

Coke insists that Expedition 206 and their social media efforts directly tie to their efforts at selling more soft drinks.

• People who participate online tend to have a higher brand affinity score, and are more likely to buy Coke.
• Coke’s  chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent recently described Twitter and Facebook as “critical” to the company.

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Do you think Coke has the right recipe for marketing success? Let us know your thoughts.

Monday, January 25th, 2010, 11:23 am   |   Coca-Cola, Social Media  |  RSS feed |  Respond  |  Trackback