Penny For Your Thoughts: Coca-Cola Transforms Bottle Labels Into Wristbands To Access Music Festivals

By Yoon Sann Wong, 30 May 2017 on Design Taxi

Coca-Cola is no stranger to unique packaging designs. It’s previously launched creative bottle cap emojis, special Lunar New Year cans, and even a bottle cap that surprises people with recorded messages.

This time, the beverage brand teamed up with McCANN Bucharest and main music festivals in Romania, to launch its detachable bottle labels that double as wristbands for access to these events.

Continue reading and watch the coke ad for the bottle labels HERE.

Question for you:

Do you think this is a genius idea or too gimmicky for your taste? If you like it, can we draw marketing parallels to the craft universe we live in?

Are there any good ideas out there to improve how craft is marketed to a wider audience? It can't just be about skill and technique, form and critical discourse, because obviously, that's not really working, is it? Do we have to come up with something like this to be heard/seen/noticed? Is this just crazy talk or a good idea?

I am interested to hear what you think. Post your thoughts in the comment segment below. Thanks!

Brigitte/ Crafthaus Editor

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Comment by 2Roses on June 7, 2017 at 12:33am

I wish there was a simple universal answer Roxie. It's not simple even if you are Coke. Ideally, for a successful cross-promotion, you are trying to achieve synergy across a multiple of touchpoints. The Coke example does this beautifully. 

- The promotion is very consistent with the Coke brand promise

- It delivers financial reward

- It confers status within the peer group

- It has built in referral and virility

- It is emotionally engaging

- It delivers something the target audience wants and values

It is worth noting that the entertainment venues that Coke chose to partner with were carefully curated. Not just any concert would work. Nor would any audience segment. Each component was carefully matched.  The same is true for your product if the promotion is going to work. 

To start with, what is your product? Is Coke selling soda pop? On a rational level, they are. But when was the last time you saw an ad or promotion for Coke that said Coke is great soda pop? They are selling lifestyle and self-image. If you think you are selling jewelry, you may want to rethink what your product really is. This is the first step in evaluating a promotional partner. 

Comment by Roxy Lentz on June 6, 2017 at 3:22pm

So, Two Roses, tell us what that connection is. What should an artist link their product to?

Comment by Brigitte Martin on June 6, 2017 at 1:46pm
Brilliant, 2Roses, as always!!
Comment by 2Roses on June 6, 2017 at 1:30pm

Classic cross-promotion. Coke uses access to concerts to increase awareness of, and sell its product. It's an old-school marketing technique, and it obviously works.  Could this be a good thing for craft? Of course, it could. The key is finding a cross-promotional "fit".

So, let's forget about concerts and wristbands for a moment and look at a few of the operative principles behind employing this promotional technique successfully.  

Define your product. "Craft" is a very big concept. Narrow the promotion down to something the audience can understand. Coke did not promote "Food" or even "Soft Drinks".  They are selling Coke! What are you selling?

Define your audience. Who do you want to sell to? This may be different than who you are selling to now. Get personal, get deep. Age, income, education, behavior, interests, spending patterns, etc.  Notice that Coke is not overtly selling Coke, they are offering a chance at free concert tickets.

Coke has identified that a majority of the target audience attends (wants) concerts versus a minority (doesn't want) who has sampled their product in the past 30 days. Maybe if they educated the audience on the importance of Coke...  Well, maybe not.  What they DID do is tie Coke to something the audience REALLY DID want.  In fact, the audience wanted free concert tickets so much, they were willing to buy Coke for a chance to get them.  Notice that nowhere has Coke revealed how many free tickets were given out. Hope is a powerful motivator. 

Look for the magic link. What does your target audience really, really care about (read, "spend money on"). Is there anything that would be a natural "fit" with what you are selling? How can purchasing your item deliver the other item that the audience really wants? Note that the "payoff" does not have to tangible. It can be status, an experience, access to something... you get the idea.  

Pay attention to value relationship. The cross-promotion should deliver greater perceived value than the cost of participation, ie, the cost of a Coke versus cost of a concert ticket. 

That should get you started for now. 

Comment by Roxy Lentz on June 6, 2017 at 9:42am

The only thing I can think of that would help all artists is to be seen more in mainstream TV shows. I don't know if the lagenlook that Frankie of Grace and Frankie helps sales for that kind of clothes or not, but it gets a lot of attention on Twitter. People need to be convinced it is OK and good to buy, wear, and decorate with something an artist made. As far as Coke, this is genius, but I don't know how to use that concept for artists. People don't care about something until they are told it is cool for them to care about it.

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