Task 1: Research Portfolio (U20:P1, M1 U24:P1)
Learning outcome 1 (U20): Know how existing advertising campaigns embed advertisements across a range of media products.
Learning outcome 2 (U24): Understand the products that are produced within and across media industries.
Coco cola- Share a coke
Aims and objectives
The primary campaign objective was to increase the consumption of Coca-Cola over the summer season. This was going to be done through creating more awareness in order to increase the sales. The secondary objective was to get people talking about Coke again. The campaign aimed to make consumers see Coke in a way that would encourage them to love the brand rather than just consume the product. Another aim of the campaign was to create a more personal relationship with consumers of Coke, and inspire collective moments of happiness. This was done through the labels on the product being personalised, by featuring a range of names on the bottles or cans of the drink. This encourages consumers to share the drink with others as when consumers see their names, or their friends names on the product, they will be more inclined to buy it.
Target audience
The target audience for Coco Cola's share a coke campaign is 18-25 year olds. This worked at Coco Colas advantage due to the limited alienation, as any consumer aged between 13-60 could essentially take part without feeling excluded. Their target audience of young adults wanted a drink that was not only satisfied their thirst but to consume a product that reinforces a sense of belonging and self-expression. In addition to this, this demographic is arguably the most sociable, which means they can spread awareness of the product through word of mouth, and share their love for Coke with their friends and family.
The diversity of the product is emphasised by the idea that it is not targeted towards a specific gender, culture or ethnicity. This is shown by Share a Coke being a global campaign that took place in many countries across the globe.
The secondary audience of this campaign is people who are not of this age, but still enjoy Coke. This is an important audience as Coco Cola wants to ensure that they appeal to loyal customers, so that they do not consume products from rival brands. This is done as they can still find their name on the drink, which does not exclude them from the campaign.
Key messages
The key message of the Share a Coke campaign was that through consuming their product, one can connect with others through forming personal relationships. This creates intimacy with its consumers by summoning memories and experiences with the brand and their unique selling point “live the Coke side of life”. It invites people to create their positive reality and to aid that Coke is the happiness in the bottle. Coco Cola almost always offers value propositions to the audience, which highlights the benefits of the product. For example, the share a coke campaign has been advertised on the promise that 'it will make you happy', this offers a good reason for an audience to consume their product. This is reinforced in Coco Colas slogan that is 'Taste the feeling'.
Approach
One way in which they created cross media awareness is through using the traditional means of advertising, and enhancing these with different digital forms of advertising, with a main focus on social media. They started off with big billboards in major cities across the globe. These billboards were posted on Share a Cokes social media, perhaps to target their audience of millennials. The television commercials that they produced, one for each country that they market the campaign, is also a way in which they produced awareness. The fact that these commercials were out on Coco-Colas Youtube channel, enhances this traditional way of advertising. This campaign was also advertised in magazines and Newspapers, as well as the online and digital platforms.
Another way that the campaign gained attention was through producing vending machines that provide these personalised bottles. This is an advantageous approach as it boosts morale and productivity, by giving consumers accessibility to a product that they can access easily at the convenience of a vending machine. As well as this, vending machines offer fast service in prime locations, which reinforces the idea that they are easy to access, especially during busy days on-the-go.
The names printed on bottles and cans in stores represent many popular names, and the diversity of cultures. A range of different names are available, including names from different cultural background, ensuring that those who consume the product feel more represented by the campaign. The fact that consumers are also able to personalise their own Coke bottles allows anyone with a unique or diverse name or nickname to join in. Increasing the number of people that the campaign represents will generate greater participation, therefore increasing the chances of the campaigns success.
Campaign logistics
The Share a Coke campaign was first launched in Australia in 2011. It then was launched in the US, due to it being an American product, in 2014. These coke bottles only included names, but over the last few years, as the campaign has developed and expanded they have added new names, song lyrics, and more flavours in more packages. Share a Coke was also launched in the United Kingdom in 2013 and 2014. This could be due to the World cup taking place in 2014, as well as the Winter Olympics in Sochi, with Coco-cola being one of their sponsors. This can explain why the marketing campaign was released in 2014, as popular sporting events were occurring that could promote the brand, and allow it to gain mass, global exposure. One way in which they did this was through putting Brazilian football players names and their signatures on the labels. As well as this, these are events that reinforce a sense of solidarity, and this is what they wanted the drink to reflect. The campaign has now been part of more than 80 countries around the world, including China, Israel, Germany, New Zealand, and most recently, India.
Choice of media
Coco Cola's Share a Coke campaign advertised their product across a wide rang of media. These include traditional forms of advertising, such as billboards, television adverts, and magazine and newspaper adverts. It also included digital advertisements, particularly through Social media.
One of the traditional ways in which they advertised this campaign was on billboards around the globe. This is also a form of above-the-line advertising. One reason as to why they would have advertised their product on billboards is because they are not targeting a specific, niche audience, they are targeting a mass audience and therefore want to gain mass exposure. As well as this, as this campaign targets a wide age group, it will appeal and reach those who do not use social media. As it is placed throughout cities, consumers are likely to see it on their commutes.
Relevant legal and ethical issues
Legal issues and regulatory bodies
A legal issue that they should consider is that their advertising campaign must follow the ASA's rules. This ensures that the advertisements they produce are not deemed as harmful, misleading, or offensive. If they were not to meet the ASA's requirements, then Coco-Cola could receive a large fine, or even have the advert pulled. This is likely to damage their brand identity and reputation. However, Coco-Cola has not broken these rules.
As well as this, as the video advert was shown on television, it would have had to followed the rules and regulations of OFCOM.
Another legal issue that could occur is copyright. As Coco-Cola used many visual images to advertise this campaign, it is important to ensure that they either gain permission to use the intellectual property of others, or produce their own images so they can use them how they want, without having to gain this permission.
Ethical issues
An ethical issue that could occur in this campaign is if the materials that the product is made of are not recyclable, or sustainable for the environment. This is because modern day society is promoting a greener world that prioritises the needs and cares for the environment. However, this was not the case for Coco-Cola, as they claim that 100% of Coca‑Cola packaging is 100% recyclable.
Another ethical issue that could occur in this campaign is the lack of diversity in names. Coco-cola did infact face such an ethical issue, and were slammed by the LGBTQ+ community for allegedly preventing users from typing the word 'Gay' or 'Lesbian' on a customisable Coke can, but allowed the use of the word straight. As a campaign that claims to want to reflect the diversity of individuals within the world, this is clearly contradictory, as they are excluding a significant group within society.
Miss Dior
The Miss Dior campaign targets white women between the ages of 15-40 who belong to a middle class. This is because the appearance of the bottle has stereotypically feminine features, such as the colour of the perfume being pink, and the bottle having a couture bow. As well as this, the smell is said to resemble flowers, which is not likely to appeal to a typical boy or male. The price of the product is often based on its quality and the customers that it targets. Dior offers high-end products that target the rich, or middle-class, in the market. The target are therefore older, as not only are they more likely to have an interest in beauty products such as perfume, but it is very likely that they will be receiving a higher income. In addition to this, it targets mainly white women due to all the forms of advertising they use featuring Natalie Portman. As she is a white women, and none of the advertisements feature those of different cultures or ethnicity, it is unlikely that they will want to engage with the campaign.
Its secondary audience are those of the parents whose child consumes the product. This is because they may enjoy the smell of it on them and so want to buy the same one. As they are likely to belong to the same social class, it is likely they will be in the financial position that allows them to do so.
Key messages
One of its key messages, according to Portman herself, was to encourage consumers to seek beauty, and feel joy and light, even in the face of darkness, or not so good times where it is hard to be so optimistic. If the product can reinforce optimism and positivity through its connotations of luxury and beauty, it is an incentive for consumers to buy the product. This is reinforced through its unique selling point which is that it is known as a 'Complete luxury lifestyle brand'. There is also an emotional selling point attached to this Miss Dior perfume. A lot of women want a scent that they want to claim as theirs, one that gives a pleasurable and desirable scent to their body as this produces, for some women, self-confidence, which is likely to enhance their well being. This makes them feel emotionally connected to the product, which will make them loyal consumers. This campaign therefore offers a clear benefit, that buying and using this perfume will make you feel more beautiful and happier. It also wants to show all of the different types of love there are, not just the stereotypical type of love.
Approach
One way in which the campaign encourages the audience to remember the campaign, and ultimately buy the product is through celebrity endorsement. Celebrity endorsement is where celebrities are employed to advertise a brands product, and the audience identifies with the celebrity and so associates the product with them. In the case of this campaign, Natalie Portman is the celebrity. She is the face of Miss Dior's 2021 campaign, as she stars in its TV commercials, billboards, magazine adverts, along with its digital advertisements.
She advertises the product on her Instagram, one of the largest platforms on social media. This encourages her many followers and fans to consume the product she is advertising, and her advertising it is likely to confer a sense of legitimacy onto the product, as he is a role model and a well respected public figure.
The campaign does not reflect the high levels of diversity within the world today. This is because almost every advertisement consists of Natalie Portman, a white, and what is presented as a heterosexual women. For example, the video advertisement features Portman and another man in a romantic relationship. As a result of this, there are no people of different race, sexuality, shapes and sizes, or disabilities. This conforms to the traditional stereotype that suggests a women can only be beautiful if they are white, and slim, and this is what is desirable to men. In today society, many advertising campaigns feature a variety of different types of women, as well as men, as it is important for every person to feel beautiful in their own unique way. This means that people that may be a minority, or have unfamiliar characteristics may feel excluded and are not likely to feel appreciated, and it is not likely they will want to consume the product. This narrows the audience of who their product appeals to.
Campaign logistics
While Miss Dior was originally introduced in 1947, it is known for reformulating its fragrance every few years. The new Miss Dior eau de parfum 2021 campaign was released in August 2021, and the product itself came out on September 2021, announced as the rebirth of this fragrance full of love and hope. Teasers were being reinforced digitally towards the end of August on forms of social media, particularly Instagram. The other adverts and formats were released at the beginning of September, and were pushed worldwide across global markets. 2021 was a year in which COVID restrictions were still being reinforced, and therefore these digital advertisements were significant and appealing to those who could not access advertisements outside of the home, due to many people having to spend time in isolation or those at high risk.
Choice of media
- Billboards
- Television commercial
- Newspaper advertisements
- Magazine advertisements
- Radio adverts
- Podcast adverts
- Train posters
- Bus posters
- Cinema adverts
- Leaflets
- Pamphlets
- Posters
- Word of mouth
- Sponsored events
- Merchandise
- Social media: Instagram posts, Twitter posts, Facebook posts, Tiktok posts.
- Celebrity endorsement
- Email updates
- Pop-up adverts
Comments
Post a Comment