- Coca-Cola is working with League of Legends developer Riot Games to advertise a recent soft drink targeted on the gaming community, per details shared with Marketing Dive.
- Called Coke Ultimate Zero Sugar, the limited-edition beverage is supposed to be flavored like experience points, or “+XP,” that might be used to progress in the sport. A world campaign that depicts a hero figure teleporting around worlds inspired by popular genres within the medium supports the rollout.
- Coke Ultimate Zero Sugar packaging comes with QR codes that open the Coca-Cola Creations Hub for digital experiences, which has added an Instagram filter that lets visitors view themselves as League of Legends emotes. An element of tech-enabled personalization could further appeal to gamers that value a way of immersion and roleplay.
Coke is constant to construct on a Creations platform launched last yr that focuses on experimental flavors tailored to different enthusiast groups. This is the primary time the soft drink giant has directly collaborated with a gaming company on a flavor, though it shouldn’t be clear from the announcement what “+XP” tastes like.
Teaming again with Riot Games could help Coke read as more authentic with gamers, an audience that’s notoriously averse to traditional promoting but increasingly precious to brands, with a considerable portion within the Gen Z age range. The soft drink giant in 2022 signed a multiyear agreement as a founding partner of Wild Rift Esports, the primary mobile esports program from Riot Games.
Beyond the experience points theme, Coke Ultimate Zero Sugar carries perks for League of Legends diehards and newbies alike. Players can take part in three in-game missions that unlock limited-edition Ultimate emotes as rewards, with the primary mission going live today (June 7). Future missions can be activated so as as they’re accomplished, while the custom emotes can be available starting July 18.
At the identical time, Coke is introducing an Ultimate Emote Generator to its Creations Hub that lets fans dabble with a recent League of Legends Instagram filter and generate awareness on social media. Visitors to the location may pre-order an Ultimate Zero Sugar-branded mini-fridge made by Cooluli.
Packaging and promotional materials for Coke Ultimate Zero Sugar are co-branded, with the League of Legends title displayed prominently and reinforced through a daring black-and-gold color scheme. The regular Creations logo is paired with an Ultimate crest that carries a blue glow inspired by Hextech, a magical technology from League of Legends. Coke’s usual Spencerian Font script has also taken inspiration from the sport’s glowing Nexus Crystals. The crystals function the premise for real-world activations running in Los Angeles, Shanghai and Mexico City.
Coke Ultimate Zero Sugar is offered within the U.S., Canada, China, South Korea, Latin America and Africa, with a full-sugar version coming to the U.S., Canada and Mexico. A campaign to construct awareness is running across social channels, talking to Coke’s growing digital focus.
The hero ad opens with a personality being beamed right into a rain-drenched cyberpunk city laden with buzzing neon signage, including a distinguished Coca-Cola logo. The ad then shifts to a first-person perspective common in video games because the hero explores an out of doors market and eventually acquires a crystal that transports them to far-flung worlds.
Coke plans to let consumers step into the world of the campaign through one other experience coming to the Creations Hub. People can upload a selfie and see it transposed onto an Ultimate character, a tactic that leans into the deepfakes trend. Creations products ceaselessly come labeled with QR codes that access cutting-edge digital experiences, like augmented reality-powered music performances.
The latest Coke campaign was developed with WPP’s Open X/Ogilvy, a bespoke unit throughout the ad-holding group, and inventive agency Virtue. SixTwentySix served because the production shop, with the industrial helmed by directors Miles Cable and AJ Favicchio. Forpeople, Havas and EssenceMediacom also contributed.
Coke has made a growing number of overtures to gamers, who’ve shown a preference for energy drinks and offerings like rival PepsiCo’s Mtn Dew. A pixel-flavored Creations beverage from last spring called Zero Sugar Byte was complemented by a custom island in Fortnite. Other campaigns haven’t gone over so well. A 2021 ad that was part of Coke’s then-new “Real Magic” global brand platform was criticized by some gamers as being tone-deaf and out-of-step with their interests.
On a call discussing first-quarter results, CEO James Quincey noted that Coke has turn into “rather more digital during the last three years,” which has helped boost appeal with Gen Z. The company’s organic revenue was up 12% year-over-year within the opening leg of 2023, a bump that got here despite ongoing inflationary challenges.
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