IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK: Coca-Cola ditch their logo
Coca-Cola in the UK have launched a new campaign this week in the wake of 2020, ‘Open to Better’ which is an attempt to “inspire people to find hope and optimism in the new year”. The limited-edition packaging for the beverages will feature a range of different resolutions to encourage consumers to reflect on the past year.
These resolutions come in the form of different self-improvement messages printed on the cans including “I will never take my friends for granted” and “what better time for us to be brave than now?”
While this is an inspiring and positive piece of marketing, the most interesting takeaway for us, as a Public Relations Agency in Sydney, is the fact that this campaign sees the removal of the iconic Coca-Cola logo to make room for these inspirational messages.
In the PR industry we work tirelessly to ensure brands and their image are being seen by the media and by consumers, but there are very few brands who can completely remove their logo from a product and still remain as recognizable as a can of Coke. A PR team can only DREAM of that level of brand awareness.
It’s not to say it hasn’t come with little effort as during the company’s astounding 129 years of business they have come out with some incredible marketing stunts. This includes their internationally iconic ‘Share a Coke’ campaign back in 2014. The promotion saw the famous brand name on the side of their packaging changed to one of 250 common names. Consumers opted to choose a can or bottle with a name that had personal meaning to them and then share on social media with the hashtag #Shareacoke. As a result, over 125,000 posts with this hashtag were shared within one month and resulted in Coca-Cola gaining 25 million Facebook followers that same year. PR brilliance if you ask us!
While we sit back and marvel at the PR genius of Coca-Cola, we hope those of you having a can of Coke enjoy the New Year with a wholesome fizz.
By Michael Fitness – PR and Influencer Coordinator at InsideOut PR and #AsSeenON
