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Coca-Cola uncaps special summer moments through playlists controlled by bottles

Coca-Cola?s latest mobile innovation transforms bottles into a remote control for Spotify playlists via an application that registers products using smartphone cameras and curates music collections representative of common summer experiences. 

The Play a Coke campaign, happening in Canada, is tapping various summer experiences and making them even more special by providing a soundtrack for themes such as Chillin? by the Fire, First Kiss and Road Trip. Users can access the soundtracks by downloading Coke?s mobile app, which leverages augmented reality technology to allow customers control of their music play by moving the product. 

"Coke has chosen to help the music industry where Coke in Canada is using an app for users to point their cameras at Coke bottles and open and control music playlists," said Marci Troutman, CEO of SiteMinis. "The music industry is struggling more with the information super highway that allows access to any information that can be imagined at the fingertips of the millennials and beyond, who not only are used to the instant access, but demand it. 

"With the Coke app users can experience music they might not previously have been exposed to, opening up a window of opportunity for the artist presented to gain a new fan," she said. "The app is innovative and Coke should consider widening the promotion to a larger market."

Coke in Canada
Coke fans in Canada are unlocking playlists through the mobile app that uses smartphone cameras to recognize a bottle or fountain drink. The playlists, provided by Spotify, represent activities and themes for special moments known to take place during the summer season. 


Users only have to point their phone at the Coke bottle to open the playlists

For instance, if a customer picks up a bottle or fountain drink of Coke that is labeled Just my Crew, they can point his or her smartphone camera at the bottle, which will then open the corresponding playlist. Users can twist the bottle back and forth within in the camera to skip to the next song and play, pause or control the music. 

The special labels will appear on various Coke products such as its flagship flavor, Diet Coke and Coke Zero. Users will be able to save the playlists on Spotify for future listening. 

There will also be a limited edition launch of Cherry Coke and Vanilla Coke to correspond with the campaign. 
The summer campaign taps into users? love of celebration for the warmer weather, and provides a fitting soundtrack to common moments. By inserting itself into these moments, Coke is making a special bond with consumers, not only through the creation of a wow-factor campaign but providing them with a reward. 

Coca-Cola campaigns
The Canadian campaign builds off of Coke?s original recent incarnation of its Share a Coke program by enabling music enthusiasts to scan lyrics on specially marked bottles via the Shazam app to create lip-sync videos and share them on social, underscoring the campaign's increasingly mobile-centric focus (see more).

Following Coke Zero?s success earlier this year with a mobile-enabled interactive campaign dubbed ?drinkable,? the brand also took another sip and brought it back in a bigger way ? including several key engagements via the Shazam app ? for college football season (see more). 

"A promotion like this can help Coke partner with the music industry in amazing ways, presenting new artists, bringing forward hidden artists and aiding in fan bases that may not have existed previously," Ms. Troutman said.