"Mar'Mar old friend,
I know what you mean,
A stack large as that is a sight to be seen."
On April 25, 2012, at the NAMA Oneshow, Dan Avenick, Director of Vending Strategy, and Douglas Busk, Mobile Brand Strategy, represented Coca-Cola in a presentation titled Consumer Engagement and Social Media. The two outlined (regarding social media) “4 ways to use it: Build brands, drive sales, improve customer service, and recruit talent.”
Coke partnered with ThisMoment to develop “Pantry”, a social marketing system which can help them share, re-use and distribute content across all social end points and devices.
At this year’s #SocialShakeUp, Coke’s Director of Digital Strategy and Content Neil Bedwell said “a brand’s job is to create meaning.” Coca-Cola’s meaning? Worldwide Happiness.
I have no doubts that Coca-Cola is the best in the world at creating happiness through advertising. It’s hard not to be happy after watching all their innovative YouTube campaigns.They have done it for 100 years, and it looks like they will do it for 100 more.
My question is, why don’t more people share their stuff on Twitter? It’s just interesting to me to see a brand with several million followers and a presence in 206 countries get 8 RT’s. Two of the biggest social networks in the world, dominated by this brand’s target demographic, seem untapped on the surface.
Perhaps Coca-Cola’s largest Social campaign to date was Expedition 206. In 2010 the brand used social media to choose three individuals who would travel the world, visiting 206 countries, taking photos, making videos, sending out updates on Twitter and Facebook, and connecting with individuals around the world. @x206 had a Twitter following of 1,391 at the time of this writing. Sure, people may have unfollowed, but for an international social media campaign this one was chalked up as a disappointment.
“Be share-worthy in everything you do.”
Wendy Clark (SVP of Integrated Marketing Communications and Capabilities at Coca-Cola)
Following their 70/20/10 liquid content strategy it is easier to understand why so much of their content is safe. 70% of content is low risk. 20% of content innovates off what works. 10% of your content is high risk ideas.
But safe is different than boring. Forget their statistics. Get on Coca-Cola’s Twitter page now. A good follow? Millions of fans, and most of their photos have RT and Favorite counts below 100, sometimes even in the single digits. Worse yet, the responses are minimal, the conversation isn't there, Coca-Cola isn't a beacon for happiness, they’re a beacon for…Cokes. This was the same problem for their @x206 campaign, instead of showcasing the world’s happiness, the three individuals were the stars of the show.
What do you think about the social presence for a brand like Coke? For all I know they’re hitting every target they set and are wildly successful using the platforms. After all, they are a brand built by consumers. Maybe they are more focused on making people tweet about them organically. Whatever is going on, it’s interesting to see their Twitter page get the number of RT’s and responses it does for a brand of their stature.
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