We’ve had a global rebrand, the controversial World Cup hydration breaks, and now a hyperlocal campaign based in Wakefield, Yorkshire – all from Coca-Cola in the last month or so.
The business has just posted a Q2 7% sales uplift to $13 billion, boosted by its FIFA partnership. This included the Powerade hydration breaks, which president and CFO John Murphy says he was “not unhappy” with, despite the fact that fans, players and managers spoke out against them. Coca-Cola’s media blitz around the tournament generated more than 9 billion views on social media across all brands, which include Sprite, Fanta, and Costa, as well as Powerade.
Unilever also reaped the rewards of promoting 35 personal care brands in 120 markets during the World Cup, recording a sales lift of 5.8% in Q2 – its best in 16 years. This included a lot of high profile TV advertising, particularly for Rexona, Axe and Dove deodorants, alongside the company’s much-publicised micro-influencer marketing drive.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino will be delighted with this proof that the World Cup’s delivers commercially. He has just announced plans to sell 20% of the World Cup and Club World Cup tournaments to private investors (led by Joshua Kushner, brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared).
This new UK campaign from agency AFG manages to showcase a range of Coca-Cola brands as it visits a fish bar, a pub and a café in Wakefield – all while getting across the message that it produces 97% of the drinks it sells in the UK domestically.
