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Thinking mobile keeps innovation bubbling at Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola clearly has one of the more successful programs for leveraging mobile to spread its message, but the brand's ability to continue along this vein could depend on the extent to which it improves management of its strategies in the wake of pulled campaigns and reports of poor user experiences, an analysis of the beverage maker?s mobile marketing strategy shows.

The Atlanta-based company, best known for its caramel-colored flagship soft drink, Coca-Cola, is leading on mobile by creating innovative ways to use technology to connect with consumers. Whether it has overreached with its far-reaching strategies, it can take credit for sustaining an organizational structure that fits people-based mobile marketing, avoiding the silos that can hinder innovation, especially in older companies with an entrenched corporate culture.

?Coke has done a lot of really cool things in the mobile space over the past few years, and has leveraged a lot new and emerging technology,? said Jeff Malmad, head of mobile and Life Plus with Mindshare North America. ?As far as oversights go though, simply just using that tech isn?t enough ? they should focus on optimizing some of those mobile experiences better. 

?The My Coke Rewards program is a good example ? it?s a great idea for mobile, but if you look at the comments in the app store, the overall consumer experience needs some work,? he said. ?A friend of mine tried to sign up for it on her smartphone recently and it didn?t work. Based on the app comments, she?s not the only one.?

A Coca-Cola representative could not be reached for comment.

Loyalty program
Coca-Cola?s move into mobile was partly due to its already having a large base of registered participants in its loyalty program on email, the World Wide Web and other media, making it easier to obtain the needed opt-in status.
 

Leveraging mobile to spread a message.

Years of youth-oriented marketing, via slogans such as ?Coke is it!? and ?Life Tastes Good,? paved the way for it to pitch itself to the growing ranks of mobile users.

By 2009, the beverage giant?s My Coke Rewards mobile loyalty program had emerged as one of the most popular consumer packaged goods sites, Mobile Marketer reported, citing Harte-Hanks? Aberdeen Group.

Participants entered unique codes under the caps of specially marked Coke products online or by texting in the keyword to a short code. When they had accumulated enough points to redeem a reward from one or more of the program?s participating partners, they made their selection and the points were deducted from their account.

A turning point for Coca-Cola came in 2013 when it managed to connect mobile, desktop and the physical world by keeping things simple, Tom Daly, global group director for mobile at Coca-Cola, told the Mobile FirstLook: Strategy 2015 conference in New York  in January. 

Also key for Coca-Cola was a change to mobile-first thinking. Objectives for the brand now included connecting with moms, and the launch of the Coke Play gamified loyalty program, targeting Korean teens. 

The year also marked Coca-Cola?s move into mobile transactions, launching a collaboration with Isis to introduce mobile-wallet-enabled vending machines.

Coca-Cola?s ability to leverage new technology to spread its brand message earned it the accolade of 2014 Mobile Marketer of the Year and became its signature activity for the mobile age.

?Rather than modifying current advertising techniques to fit a new technology, they come up with a message that is informed by that technology,? said Esha Shah, manager of mobile and strategy at Fetch.

?For example, with their Chok campaign in Korea, they saw that Korean teenagers loved to shake or "chok" their phones, so they incorporated the Coca-Cola brand message into that cultural phenomenon. They knew teenagers love to use their phones and watch TV, usually at the same time, so they created a TV commercial that became a game with teens' phones,? she said.

In the commercial, bottles of Coca-Cola were popped open and viewers had to shake (chok) their phones to "catch" the flying bottle caps to receive coupons and other promotional material. 

Teens were highly engaged, even posting videos of themselves chokking on Facebook. 

?Instead of simply repurposing a TV ad placement on a mobile phone, they created a unique way that viewers could interact with a commercial while leveraging a popular practice (chok) on mobile,? Ms. Shah said.

Providing the 360 degree experience.

The brand strategically times its campaigns around sporting events when consumers are more likely to be purchasing soft drinks. Campaigns always include a short, catchy hashtag such as #shareacoke or #makeithappy which the brand helps set on fire.  

Campaigns also usually include an exciting sweepstakes such as a seven-night getaway to Disney World, a trip and backstage passes to meet with Lady Antebellum, and a trip to the NCAA Final Four.  
 
?When Coca-Cola releases a campaign they have the 360 degree experience clearly planned out,? said Shuli Lowy, marketing director for mobile with Ping Mobile. ?The plan includes infusing brand spirit, engaging people through cross-channel devices, mobile optimization, social sharing, and an acquisition plan.?

Its successes notwithstanding, Coca-Cola faces challenges. 

One of Coca-Cola?s biggest issues this past year has been creating a better creative filter. The brand has had several well-publicized mishaps which forced it to pull campaigns prematurely.

?It?s a lot easier to pull a hashtag that nobody knows about than one that?s going viral,? Ms. Lowy said. ?Among the notable creative fails was the campaign that Coca-Cola had to partially pull after it accidentally tweeted several lines from Hitler?s Mein Kampf and the ad campaign that featured a not-so-subtle reference to drug use.?
 
The brand is also fragmented with its mobile apps. 

?Every time Coca-Cola comes up with a new idea of something that can engage consumers through an app it builds a new one,? Ms. Lowy said. ?Each time you build an app you have to build it from scratch, get it approved by the stores, and then invest in getting people to download it. You also have to maintain the app over time?implementing updates from time to time,? she said. 

?The brand now has a ton of apps on the market?most of which provide small, light experiences. Maintaining those many apps is not only expensive but it divides the audience,? she said. 

Targeting millennials
In the months and years ahead, Coca-Cola has the opportunity to continue to capture younger audiences by leveraging new technology. The company?s plans include deploying mobile video, augmented reality, wearables and Apple?s iBeacon technology among other strategies, Mr. Daly said.

Creating unique interaction for consumers.

?Coca-Cola is already known for innovative marketing campaigns, so millennials may already be excited to see what they roll out next, Ms. Shah said. ?With the rise of connected devices around the home, this could be another opportunity to create a unique way for consumers to interact with the Coca-Cola brand.?
 
Final Take
Michael Barris is staff reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York