Fanta creates more play for consumers with the brand’s most unified and largest global marketing campaign to date. ‘Less Serious,’ launched in 2007, will now reach teens and moms worldwide in regions representing 90 percent of the brand’s global sales volume in 2011. The fun has started in many markets around the world and is kicking off in the United States on March 30, with the broadcast debut of Fanta’s ‘Chase’ commercial on ‘American Idol’ on FOX.
Coca-Cola
The story of close relationship between brands and cinematography started nearly at the same time as the cinema itself was born—in the beginning of the movie era, the big companies promoted their products though short clips which were screened before movies. Now it’s not that easy to tell for sure for which product the pioneer ad was created, but according to a range of sources (IMDB is one of them), the first filmed advertising for a today’s global brand was shot for Dewar’s Scotch Whisky (1897). Today, connections between filmmaking industry and brands go beyond this simple presence and include a lot of examples such as much discussed product placement, festival sponsorship and opening cinema clubs, cinema-related advertising campaigns, collaboration with filmmakers on commercials, and creating movies under brands’ supervision.
Coca-Cola concluded probably the largest experiment in the brand’s music history—its 24-hour live session with Maroon5, during which the band were writing and recording a new song. Throughout the unique event, which was steaming live online, the band’s and the brand’s fans from all around the globe were supporting the guys in the studio by tweeting with hashtag #WithMaroon5 (the messages popped up on the interactive wall in the studio).
The tournament-style Sprite Step Off competition returned with a six-city tour kicked off on March 19 in Charlotte, N.C. with teams from across the country competing for two $100,000 grand prizes in scholarships. Regional event competitions also will take place in Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Houston, with the winning teams advancing to the national championship in Washington D.C. on May 21.
‘Music for charity’—this idea is behind a range of Coca-Cola’s social initiatives, launched in recent years. Now, in collaboration with musicians Solange Knowles, Chris Taylor and Twin Shadow, the soft drink giant has released a digital-only charity single, ‘Kenya,’ which is helping raise money the Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN) by Coca-Cola.