Coca-Cola Global Brand Refresh Focuses on Consumer Experience
Coca-Cola has launched its new ‘Real Magic’ brand platform, including a refreshed visual identity and global campaign in order to ‘celebrate the real magic of humanity.’ This marks the first time in five years that the No. 12 consumer goods company has updated its global platform for the Coke Trademark.
“We’re at an inflection point,” said Manolo Arroyo, chief marketing officer, The Coca-Cola Company. “The last 18 months have disrupted every aspect of life and presented us with a once-in-a-generation choice to go back to a binary, black-and-white way of seeing the world or help make the world a better place. ‘Real Magic’ is about creating a movement to choose a more human way of doing things by embracing our unique perspectives.”
The campaign philosophy is rooted in the insight that magic lives in the unexpected moments of connection that elevate the everyday into the extraordinary. The “Real Magic” platform includes a new design identity for the Coke Trademark — which includes Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Light/Diet Coke and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar — anchored by a fresh expression of the Coca-Cola logo. The “Hug” logo, inspired by iconic Coca-Cola packages wrapped with our signature trademark, was conceptualized by Wieden+Kennedy London. Coca-Cola engaged KnownUnknown, a global network of independent talent, to craft the visual identity, including all photography, animations and illustrations.
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In addition, a group of photographers, artists and illustrators will bring the “Real Magic” concept to life. Their different styles will provide a variety of campaign imagery, with some artists creating more realistic depictions and others offering more abstract variations.
“This is the most diverse visual representation of the Coca-Cola brand in our history,” said Rapha Abreu, global vice president of Design, The Coca-Cola Company. “It is diverse not only in the creatives who helped bring ‘Real Magic’ to life and the people featured in the work, but also in the different photography and illustration styles, colors and treatments used.”
The goal of “Real Magic”, Arroyo said, is to significantly increase the Coca-Cola consumer base through an ecosystem of experiences anchored in consumption occasions, such as meals and breaks, and merged with consumer passion points like music and gaming.
“‘Real Magic’ is not just a tagline. We see it as a philosophy that transcends advertising and embodies all that is special about the brand,” Arroyo said, noting that it supports The Coca-Cola Company’s purpose to refresh the world and make a difference. “It will serve as our North Star by shaping all expressions of the Coca-Cola trademark in its next chapter.”
The “One Coke Away From Each Other” campaign (shown in the previous video) represents the first creative experience under the “Real Magic” platform. Blending real and virtual worlds, “One Coke Away From Each Other” is a metaphor that celebrates our common humanity. The film, which launched digitally on Sept. 27, 2021, asks what if Coca-Cola, as a symbol of togetherness, could bridge universes meant to be apart to create “Real Magic.” The film features three well-known gamers: DJ Alan Walker, Team Liquid’s Aerial Powers and Average Jonas.
Coca-Cola partnered with advertising agency BETC London to create the “One Coke Away From Each Other” campaign along with Colors Paris production company, as well as leading film director Daniel Wolfe and gaming and CGI specialist production partner Mathematic.
The campaign also features social, digital and out-of-home executions. In select markets, Coca-Cola is running a code hunt beginning Oct. 11 where fans can win prizes, including gameplay sessions with celebrity gamers. There are 25 codes hidden within the film. Through collaboration with the Brand Partnership Studio at Twitch, the interactive livestreaming service, gaming creators on Twitch will unlock another 10 codes with viewers during livestreams on their Twitch channels.
As a part of the campaign, Coca-Cola will award prizes to consumers who find and enter the hidden codes on a Coca-Cola micro site, in participating countries. Winners can receive their share of one of the largest-ever prize pools of Bits, a virtual good used to show support for Twitch streamers, as a part of the sweepstakes administered by Coca-Cola.
"Through the 'Real Magic' platform, we ultimately want to engage people very differently through an ecosystem of unique and ownable experiences," Arroyo said. "'One Coke Away From Each Other' has been built for, and with, a community that demands something different than what they may have come to expect from Coca-Cola. In developing this campaign, we’ve partnered with the best creators, with gamers, with Twitch and with others to find our place in a reality unlike any we've known before. That’s tremendously exciting."