Coca Cola has launched its first major ad post lockdown with a manifesto poem written by George “The Poet” Mpang.
The new campaign, which launches on 1 August, encourages people to be ‘open, like never before’ in a world forever changed by the global pandemic.
The ‘Open Like Never Before’ is targeted at the EMEA market, the beverage giant searches for purpose amid the pandemic with a poetic bent. Starring spoken word artist ‘George The Poet’, it takes us on a light ride on paying attention to the things that matter and how they can define and make us better going forward.
Coca-Cola suspended marketing activity for a few months, redirected resources towards supporting its bottling and retail partners, and donated $100m to relief efforts.
Much of the new campaign will focus on supporting local hotels, cafes and restaurants — individual outlets will be able to customise the ads to use for their own social media — but there will also be an OOH presence, including big sites like Piccadilly Circus.
On selected sites, you can scan the poster to hear George The Poet’s full poem on your phone.
The YouTube video description for the ad said, “Wait stop, who says we have to go back to normal? This is our opportunity to start over – more humble, mindful, braver and better than we’ve ever been. The glass isn’t half-empty, it’s half full and we all can make a difference when we are #OpenLikeNeverBefore.”
Walter Susini, SVP marketing, EMEA, The Coca-Cola Company said in a LinkedIn post, “When we all went into lockdown, it was clear, at least to us, that we needed to respond, and empathy was the lighthouse that guided our actions. We decided that as a company it was important for us to come off air and redirect our resources instead to our most critical priorities: doing everything possible to ensure our employees’ safety and well-being, as well as focus our efforts on how we could make tangible difference for our partners, for the people and for the communities out there. Time to go back, open like never before.”
With obesity at the top of the agenda, we might not want to hear this from a fizzy drinks firm, but Coca-Cola has pre-empted this by pursuing two routes to credibility.
George The Poet said: “The underlying message of this campaign is close to my heart. During my career I’ve always had to be open to the idea of change – switching from rap to poetry, from music to podcasts – being open gives you an advantage in all aspects of life. Covid-19 gave me a moment to reflect at a time when the world came to standstill, made me more patient and adapt to different ways of working. Going forward I’m going to do what I can to seize the moment and be open to change like never before.”
72andSunny Amsterdam, the advertising company is behind this ad.
Emiliano Trieveiler, Creative Director, 72andSunny Amsterdam, said: “The idea of openness in these times carried such courage and optimism that we immediately felt it was something Coke could truly own. To appreciate everything that matters, like never before.”
