One year, three adventurers, 206 countries and a whole lot of happiness – that’s the gist of Coke’s new social media initiative.

As part of Expedition 206, a team of three young people will visit more than 200 countries where Coke is sold.

The Mission: to discover what makes people happy and to share that joy with the rest of the world.  The journey will bring Coke’s “Open Happiness” campaign to life as the travelers meet people from different cultures and share their stories online.

The  Guides: After an extensive search, Coca-Cola selected nine finalists. Fans around the world will make the ultimate decision by voting at http://www.expedition206.com/ through Nov. 6. Anyone can vote once per day throughout the three-week voting period. The winning team will be announced Nov. 16 at the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta.

The Adventure: The Expedition 206 journey will begin in Madrid on Jan. 1, 2010 and culminate at the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta on Dec. 31, 2010. The expedition will make stops in cities big and small, visiting everyday people and marquee global events, such as the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Canada, the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, and the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China.

New Media: The unique social media experiment will play out online at http://www.expedition206.com/, as well as on platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Flickr. As with other Coke social media initiatives, fans will drive the experience. In addition to selecting the travelers and following the journey, visitors to the Expedition 206 website and other online destinations can vote on where the team goes, what they do and who they visit in each country.

A Tradition of Happiness: “Coca-Cola has been inviting people around the globe to enjoy the simple things in life for more than 120 years, and that spirit of positivity and optimism is at the heart of Expedition 206,” said Cristina Bondolowski, Senior Global Brand Director at Coke.

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Here are some tips that you can use from Coke’s social media marketing strategy:

1. Pick an emotion that matches your product, and leverage it in your social media campaign. The marketing team at the Coca-Cola Company had lost its way for many years in the late 1990s and early 21st century. But they have their marketing mojo back and are leveraging it with their “Happiness” campaign. You can do the same thing Coca-Cola does — that is, pick an emotion that matches your brand essence and promote it vigorously via social media.

2. Match your marketing vehicle to your target market. Millennials love social media. They’re also a primary target market for Coca-Cola. When you match the two together, you have a winning combination. The same holds true for the other end of the spectrum — if your target market is age 55+, you’ll want to run something like a direct mail campaign rather than a social media campaign. By matching your marketing vehicle to your target market, you’ll have a better ROI.

3. Get your consumers involved. A brand isn’t defined by positioning anymore. It’s defined by how people engage with your product or service. The Coca-Cola Company gets that and, as such, allows consumers to vote on the team, track their progress and engage with them in other ways, too. When you’re thinking about your brand, be sure to get your customers and prospects involved. The more involved they are with the campaign, the more successful your program will be.

4. Think really big. Really big. You don’t have to be Coca-Cola to leverage the world wide web. Anybody can do it, and that includes you. So be sure to think big and to think global — it’ll help you grow your market share and your revenue. Better still, you’ll be able to tell your CEO that “We’re using the same marketing tactics that the Coca-Cola Company does!”

Visit http://www.expedition206.com/ to learn more and vote for your favorite team.