Coca-Cola's love for social media

Nothing goes together better than big brands and advertising, and brand names don't get any bigger than Coca-Cola. As such, it is fascinating to watch them embrace social media and unveil strategies designed to connect with consumers.

Recently, the world's biggest companies have been embracing the likes of Facebook and Twitter to connect with consumers and find more unique ways to sell their products. This has seen the likes of Burger King pushing successful viral campaigns and Starbucks utilising feedback to create "My Starbucks idea" - a site that allows users to submit suggestions and have them voted on by other customers.

Campaigns like this have allowed major multinationals to build their customers even more, by asking consumers what it is they want on a personal level and then acting upon the information. In the below video, Ford's head of social media speaks about how they utilise such networks to see what consumers' trends are and to make their products relevant.

 

 

Coca-Cola's Expedition 206 Campaign was along these lines and was started by Clyde Tuggle, the senior vice president of Global Public Affairs and Communications for Coca-Cola. Tuggle realised the enormous power that social media had and the influence consumers had. Therefore, who would be the best people to spread Coca-Cola's 'Happiness' message around the world?

The Happiness Ambassador Program

The winners of Coca-Cola's Expedition 206 campaign - Tony Martin, Kelly Ferris and Antonio Santiago - are all extensive users of social media, and won the competition after a worldwide vote. The success of Coca-Cola's project can be seen in the fact that 75 percent of the votes came from outside the United States.

The winners' prize? To travel the world next year, visiting all 206 markets where Coca-Cola has a presence and spreading Coca-Cola's 'happiness' message.

They will be expected to fully document their exploits by taking photos, making videos, 'tweeting' updates and chronicling their travels via Facebook and other social media networks. This unique utilisation of social media is quite the trailblazer and Coca-Cola have suitably begun a media blitz to bring as much attention to it as possible, so people will be able to follow the travels of the Happiness Ambassadors.

Other than flights, the team will have to make their own way across the world, stopping at a selection of locations. They'll have to get their own food, find their own places to stay and meet up with the locals themselves. The team is going to be given per diem for local travel, but what they do and where they do it is pretty much up to the team members — and those at home interacting with the Expedition 206 team via various social media devices.

Coca-Cola is always at the forefront of advertising and this move to further embrace social media will only cement their position. The company's ability to understand and effectively implement their product has made them the world's most recognisable brand, and with the likes of

Michael Donnelly, Coca-Cola Group Director, and Clyde Tuggle, this looks set to continue. Michael Donnelly will be a keynote speaker at the iStrategy 2010 conference in Berlin next year.

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