Across the globe, there are thousands and thousands of drink brands. In Canada alone, there are about 30 brands of soft drinks. With so much competition, companies are compelled to come up with clever marketing campaigns that will attract the attention of their target markets. In this article, we will be recounting some of the most iconic marketing campaigns by various drink brands around the world.
The Coca-Cola “Beat of China” campaign in China for the 2012 London Olympics
Invented in the late 19th century, Coca Cola continues to dominate the food and drink industry in most countries today. This is, in part, thanks to their highly creative marketing team, which has given rise to numerous campaigns that successfully garnered the attention of many. An example of this is the “Beat of China” campaign for the 2012 London Olympics. When Coca Cola realized that the Chinese youth doesn’t consider London as influential in the country’s music scene, the company changed up its “Move to the Beat” campaign to “Beat of China”. “Beat of China” encouraged fans to submit their own beat in an effort to create an anthem for the London Olympics.
The 180 million-plus music submissions are enough proof of how successful the campaign was. Writing for China Daily, journalist Shi Jing explained that Coca-Cola seemed to be on a mission to become the most loved soft drink among 355 million Chinese teens, trying to diversify its product range and launch more campaigns that will tap into the interest of the youth.
The Twinings “Art of Tea” campaign in the UK
Through the years, drinking tea has become something known to be inherently British, which makes it no surprise that the Twinings «Art of Tea» campaign saw such great success. The campaign called in various artists such as Tom Parks and Ilana Yahav to demonstrate the potential of undrunk tea in becoming art while highlighting the ever-expanding product line of the brand.
At the time, Twinings explained that one of the goals of the campaign was to communicate that there really is a different tea for every mood, which is why they have an extensive variety of tea flavors. Today, with the age of tea drinkers getting younger and younger, the tea brand is trying to venture into the different ways they can bring the well-loved drink to the youth through various platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.
In 2019 the company made s series of videos in 18th cebtury style, where an actor impersonating the founder of the company predicts that a 21st century customer would want a herbal tea, not those made from fish bubble.
The Redbull “Stratos” campaign in the US
Inspired by the Thai drink Krating Daeng, Red Bull has always been on the extreme when it comes to their marketing strategies. One exception is Japan, where their promotional strategy has been to downsize their packaging and introduce limited collections and editions that exhibit the unique culture of the country. In the US, one of the most memorable campaigns by Red Bull is “Stratos”.
The goal of the campaign was to surpass human limits and advance scientific discoveries for the benefit of humankind. Under the campaign, Austrian expert skydiver Felix Baumgartner flew 127,953 feet into the stratosphere over New Mexico, the United States in a helium balloon before free falling in a pressure suit and parachuting to Earth. Baumgartner’s ‘space jump’ broke the record for the highest free-fall jump from 102,800 feet set by Joseph Kittinger in 1960. Sadly, despite the illustrious efforts of Red Bull to bring its beverage closer to consumers, Nathaniel Meyersohn wrote in the Business section that its competitor, Monster is still leading thanks to its NASCAR, BMX, UFC and MMA sponsorships.