Coca-Cola has been leveraging packaging as a way to connect with customers for as long as I can remember. The company has used over the top colorful packaging in Mexico for its “It’s mine” campaign and gone the other direction by removing the company brand name from bottles in the Middle East. As Chief Marketing Officer Marcos de Quinto has said, “packaging is our most visible and valuable asset” and they clearly don’t hesitate to use it.
This holiday season, they are once again leveraging their packaging to promote consumption of the controversial namesake beverage. On select plastic Coca-Cola bottles in Western Europe, consumers are able to pull off the label and make a bow out of it. In a region where less and less people are buying Coca-Cola for health concerns, this is an innovative strategy to temporarily boost sales and hopefully boost brand loyalty. Another reason for implementing this packaging scheme is that most Western Europeans are Christians and the bow will remind them of family and togetherness over the holidays. While a simple trick, the limited edition aspect creates a sense of urgency in the consumer. Since these bottles with unique packaging will only be available during the holiday season, consumers are more likely to buy the product when they see it because it might not be available the next time they go shopping.
Has it achieved success?
This packaging program was actually rolled out in December 2015. Likely due to all of the positive internet chatter, the program is back again in 2016. While the company cannot exactly gauge how many consumers bought the product for its packaging, it’s worth it for the company to bring back the special packaging simply for the internet chatter. Marketers are seeing more and more that consumers rely more on word of mouth and social media recommendations as opposed to traditional media advertisements. Therefore, when a consumer finds the packaging so ingenious that they post it on social media, the company is essentially getting free advertising. More importantly perhaps, the company is receiving improved credibility because the recommendation is coming from a friend. So, has this packaging achieved success? Given that it is back for another season, probably.