Santa Claus drinks Coke

Christmas is my favorite holiday and every year I love watching the Coca-Cola commercials with Santa Claus or polar bears, Christmas trees and a lot of snow! Winter doesn’t seem to be the best season to sell refreshing drinks thus Coca-Cola has managed to create ads full of Christmas spirit.

It is an urban legend that Coca-Cola invented Santa Claus or picked the colors of his outfit, thus this character has played an important role in the Christmas ads. Santa Claus  appeared for the first time in a Coca-Cola advertisement in 1931. This ad was illustrated by Hadon Sundblom and it was published in the Saturday Evening Post, an American newspaper. On this advertising we can see a smiling Santa Claus raising a glass of coke with the sentence "My Hat's off to the pause the refreshes". This advertisement was a success and Hadon Sundblom created many other ads between 1931 and 1964. 

                                     “My Hat’s Off to The Pause That Refreshes” — 1931

Santa Claus is a popular figure in the modern society, he is represented as a generous and jolly character and he brings a very strong and positive image in advertising. Christmas is about sharing and Coca-Cola understood how to communicate with consumers at this specific time of year by creating joyful ads.

Not only Santa Claus has appeared on advertisements but also on TV commercials, on billboards and more recently on collector bottles. Special collector bottles are designed and sold during the Winter Holidays. This year's collection represents Santa Claus holding a coke and some bottles are in the shape of Christmas balls. I may not be objective as I am coke drinker, but I cannot wait to drink a fresh coke in one of those pretty bottles!

The Coca-Cola Company is also bringing the Christmas spirit to consumers with the Christmas Truck tour. The Christmas Truck first appeared in advertising campaign in 1995 and this year it is touring in several countries. If you are or will be in the United Kingdom soon you may be able to see the Coca-Cola Truck as it is touring in the country at the moment.

                                                                 

                                         

                                                                                                         Agathe L.

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http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/coke-lore-santa-claus

http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/about-us/heritage/christmas/coca-cola-christmas-trucks-by-numbers.html
http://www.coca-cola-france.fr/125-ans-d-histoire/les-success-stories/la-pere-noel.html

unsuccessful campaign of Pepsi

Just before World CUp qualifier between Sweden and Portugal yesterday, on the Facebook fanpage of Pepsi in Sweden had appeared the pictures with the voodoo doll. But it wasn't just regular voodoo doll. This one looked like Cristiano Ronaldo.

The whole campaign caught a greater interest among Portugese football fans. Just after appearing this advertisement, they have created the Facebook group 'I will never drink Pepsi again', which has already gained more than 170 000 'likes'.

Of course Pepsi company responsed with the apology. But still... I think that the idea of using the image on one of the best football players in bad context wasn't the best idea to encourage people to buy Pepsi drink.

Ewa S.

References
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/pepsi-forced-apologize-cristiano-ronaldo-183145298.html
http://ofsajd.onet.pl/newsy/skandaliczna-reklama-pepsi-c-ronaldo-laleczka-voodoo/1sw96

Coca Cola with a new green etiquette

This summer in Argentina appeared new version of Coca Cola. Veery special, because with the green label.

Coca Cola Life is a new product, which combines the features of original Coke with no-calorie Coca Cola Zero. To create the sweet flavour of the new beverage, the company used stevia- the plant used as a natural sweetener in South America.

 The difference in amount of calories is significant. In the 0,6 liters bottle there is just 108 calories, comparing to 252 calories in classic Coke.

So far the new Coke is avaiable only in Argentina. But as I rememeber Coca Cola Zero was at the beginning sold only in Autralia, and then had it globally debut, which became pretty  big success. I assume, that this new product will be soon on sale in other markets.

Ewa S.

References:

http://www.wirtualnemedia.pl/artykul/coca-cola-life-zielone-logo-i-mniej-cukru

Wharhol Coca-Cola Painting Auction

Is Branding an Art ? Well, I am not an Art specialist but one thing is for sure: many artists are inspired by brands. That was the case of Andy Wharol who created around 30 pieces inspired by Coca-Cola. 

The painting Coca Cola (1962) was sold in auction for $57 million two days ago and its selling price was a record for a Coca-Cola related work.

Source: The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Coca-Cola is more than a beverage manufacturer, this brand is iconic. Of course Coca-Cola can be seen as a symbol of the mass-consumption society, but Wharol believed this brand was also a democratic symbol. Coca-Cola started to be part of Pop Culture in the 60s because it was "Popular", a Coke was a simple product that was accessible to all in America. No one explains better this idea than the Artist himself: 

"What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coca Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca Cola, and just think, you can drink Coca Cola, too. A coke is a coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the cokes are the same and all the cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it."           Andy Warhol

                                                                        

                                                                                                            Agathe L.

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http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/warhol-coca-cola-painting-could-fetch-40-60-million-at-christies-auction

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24907752

http://www.ajc.com/news/business/coke-inspired-warhol-sells-for-57-million/nbq9y/

http://www.christies.com/about/press-center/releases/pressrelease.aspx?pressreleaseid=6701

How did the Pepsi’s ads change over the years?

The world changes, the times change and as well the advertising campaigns. The shift of Pepsi’s advertising strategy over the years is visible very well.

In the middle of 20^th century Pepsi company started with the strategy focused on the upper class women concentrated with their appearance and weight. The slogan ‘the light refreshment’ and pictures of very good-looking, sophisticated American women show who was the main target group. The Pepsi’s ads from this period were supposed to appeal  older, more mature individuals and females by assuming that their main concerns consist of keeping a more attractive female figure through the intake of less calories, what reflected the American idealizes notion of beauty.

In the 1980’s Pepsi launched some new campaigns, mostly focused on the members of Generation Y. With the slogan ‘Pepsi. The choice of the New Generation’ it has opened to the new consumer- distinguished and separated from the ‘old’ generation of their parents. The Pepsi company wanted to highlight that the other coke drinks are the drinks of the past and the Pepsi is new- something they should desire. To achieve this goal the company used in its commercials the image of popular icon- Michael Jackson. The advertisements appealed the new group of people. The company believed that advertising to such young age group will allow to attain the same consumers thorough the Generation ‘s lifetime.

During the next years company used also celebrity endorsement strategy. It used other big icons of pop culture to advertise its products, including: Mariah Carey, KISS, Tina Turner, Britney Spears, Beyoncé Knowles, Pink, Enrique Iglesias, David Bowie, Rod Stewart, Jim Varney, Elvis Presley, One Direction, Michael Jackson, Brian May, Roger Taylor, Madonna, Spice Girls, Shakira, Amr Diab, Ray Charles, and Elton John.  Pepsi tried to connect and identify with teenagers, who value the celebrity associated with the product much more than the quality of the product itself.

Because the people’s values had changed Pepsi had to use images of  rich, young, beautiful, and famous stars to  keep the viewers’ attention with the product. The use of sex appeal, portrayed Pepsi as a quality product with strong connections to popular entertainment, appealing to teenagers emotional desire for entertainment, and enjoyment.

 Ewa S.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepsi#Marketing

http://foodandculture.wikispaces.com/Pepsi+Ads+Over+the+Past+50+Years

Regional cola brands in France: what is the recipe of their success?

The first and only regional cola drink I have ever tried is Breizh Cola, I had the opportunity to try it in Britannia few years ago. I have to confess that I don’t remember precisely if it tasted better or not than the Coca-Cola Classic I usually drink but one thing is for sure: I was pretty surprised to discover such product as a Regional cola drink.

               Source: www.breizhcola.fr

Breizh Cola is the first Regional cola brand that appeared on the French market, this product was launched in Britannia in 2002. Ten years after the launch we can talk of a real success: 15 millions of bottles were sold in France last year. Breizh Cola has open the door to many other regional cola drinks such as Corsica Cola, Fada Cola (created in Marseille), Paris Cola...in total there are around twenty different brands.

Different reasons can explain this fad for Regional cola brands. First of all, most of those cola drinks are sold at a lower price than Coca-Cola or Pepsi drinks. One liter of Regional cola drink costs between 0,75 cents and 1€ on average in supermarkets. Regional cola brands are using the strong identity of certain regions of France to create a unique brand image. They are an alternative to the two American soda leaders and French consumers that are attached to their regions have the possibility to buy local products.

                  Source: www.consoglobe.com/cola-les-alternatives-au-coca-cola-cg/8

Alternate cola brands are serious competitors and PepsiCo and The Coca-Cola Company have learnt that to their cost. Breizh Cola is ahead of PepsiCo with 10% of market shares in the West of France, the Brand is now available in Paris so let's see now how far this challenger will go.

                                                                                                             Agathe L.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breizh_Cola
http://www.rue89.com/2009/03/25/du-cola-breton-au-cola-corse-coup-de-com-ou-vrai-carton

http://www.lesechos.fr/01/08/2013/LesEchos/21491-095-ECH_du-breizh-cola-au-poitou-cola--les-sodas-deviennent-regionaux.htm