Jonathan Mildenhall was back on stage on Day Two to talk about Coca Cola’s ‘Liquid Approach’ to advertising.
He began his session with his case study for the Fifa World Cup in 2010. He spoke about how Coca Cola were inspired by Roger Milla’s celebration in the 1990 World Cup to create their celebration song. They added five notes to the K’Naan’s ‘Waving Flag’ and got a powerful impact that connected emotionally to their consumers. That was what Mildenhall called the biggest conversation starter for his brand.
Mildenhall also spoke about the Zoozoo campaign. He found the campaign special as it used the digital platform at a time the internet wasn’t that big in India and the campaign was built around Facebook. He rated the Zoozoo campaign as one of his top 10 marketing campaigns from all around the world.
Giving an example of the Thums-up Khatron ke Khiladi campaign he spoke about the evolution of storytelling. He said, “Thums Up started 2011 on a high but they wanted to take the drink to another level. They tied-up with Colors and used their brand ambassador, Akshay Kumar and created their single biggest act of brand integration.”
Through this they achieved more than 2,00,000 fans on Facebook.
He also presented a case study of their campaign at a university where they spread happiness. They place a Coke vending machine in the middle of the campus that surprised students.
He spoke about how we need to encourage bravery. Marketers and advertisers need to embrace risks and incubate creative ideas.
On being questioned by one of the attendees on why Thums-up hasn't gone global, Mildenhall said, "The major focus for the company is towards Coke and hence they don't have the resources to accelerate the growth of Thums-up internationally."
