The countdown to Christmas begins as Coca-Cola announces integrated festive campaign
Friday, November 11, 2011
Coca-Cola Great Britain (CCGB) is celebrating 80 years of iconic Christmas advertising with an integrated campaign set to spread festive happiness and cheer to consumers in the UK, through TV creatives, experiential, outdoor and the world famous Piccadilly Sign.
Coca-Cola has become synonymous with Christmas advertising, since 1931 when Haddon Sundblom first created the world-renowned image of Coca-Cola Santa. Sundblom's captivating characterisation of this holiday icon, that consumers still see and love today, first appeared in print ads for Coca-Cola, and remains pivotal to the brand's festive campaigns.
This year's celebratory activity sees the return of the Coca-Cola 'Holidays are Coming' ad, marking the unofficial countdown to Christmas on screens from 12th November. Further propelling consumers into a celebratory mood, the 'Snow Globe' creative takes to screens from 10th December, showing how people find happiness by connecting with friends and family, inspired by Coca-Cola. This year, Grammy, BRIT and MTV award nominee Natasha Bedingfield sings the catchy, upbeat soundtrack to the ad, sprinkling some extra special magic.
Building on the success of last year's experiential Coca-Cola Christmas Truck Tour, 2011 sees the legendary stars of the 'Holidays are Coming' ads come to life across the UK. Embarking on a six-week nationwide tour, the Coca-Cola truck is set to make 100 stops at towns, cities and supermarkets across Great Britain and Ireland, surprising millions of people with festive celebrations in the lead-up to Christmas. Consumers can keep up to date with the truck tour online at http://www.cokezone.co.uk/home/assets/xmas11/trucktour.jsp to find their nearest truck stop and enjoy the one-off opportunity to have their picture taken with the truck.
The campaign will also be supported with 46 and 96 outdoor sheets showcasing Santa and the Coca-Cola truck. Creating further stand out, special builds add an extra magical effect through illuminated lit holes at selected sites.
Bringing the campaign in-store, POS will highlight the truck tour whilst limited-edition packaging featuring the iconic Santa imagery is available across the range of Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Coke Zero, 2L bottles, 330ml cans and multipacks.
Adding an interactive element to the festivities, the newly refurbished Coca-Cola Piccadilly Sign will feature Christmas wishes, with consumers brought together and invited to Tweet their message to loved ones for a chance to see it up in lights. The activity is the first to be showcased on the revamped Piccadilly Sign, designed to run using 20% less energy. The new sign will sharpen animations and improve colour representation, whilst the size of the sign has increased, making it the largest LED display in the UK.
ENDS
For further information on Coca-Cola please contact Frankie Mercieca or Carly Thornton on 020 7485 0100 or email Frankie@mercieca.co.uk/ Carly@mercieca.co.uk
