- The Coca-Cola Company called out a growing reliance on digital marketing initiatives to attach with consumers on a call discussing first-quarter earnings. The company saw organic revenue up 12% year-over-year over the period, largely driven by higher prices.
- The soft drink giant highlighted its work with WPP, which was named global marketing network partner in 2021, in areas like personalization and collaborations. A Coke Studio concept focused on live digital music experiences has seen strong engagement, with the newest season drawing over 1 billion streams.
- Coke Studio has scaled to 30 markets and grow to be an “always-on” program, CEO James Quincey said. Executives also pointed to a recent partnership with ChatGPT developer OpenAI and consultant Bain & Company as helping construct a bridge with groups like Gen Z, though they didn’t detail specific results.
Coke posted strong performance in Q1 2023 despite a murky macroeconomic picture, one other sign that consumers have resisted trading down despite inflation. Meanwhile, the resurgence of away-from-home purchasing occasions bolstered the underside line, with global sales volumes up 3% year-over-year. The firm upheld prior guidance of 7-8% organic growth for the complete 12 months.
While leadership attributed organic revenue gains in Q1 primarily to pricing, additionally they detailed the ways during which Coke is using digital marketing to attach with consumer passion points, including through Coke Studio and a fledgling partnership around generative artificial intelligence (AI).
At the worldwide level, Coke Studio is gaining traction after about a 12 months in market. An initial iteration of this system debuted in Pakistan in 2008, a region where it’s continued to see success. The concept expanded in May 2022 as a digital-first way for Coke to attach with emerging music talent and tie back to a “Real Magic” platform introduced two years ago. One aspect of the initiative is including QR codes on packaging that may be scanned to access interactive digital experiences.
Coke touting its marketing wins to investors is a feather within the cap of WPP and OpenX, the bespoke unit the ad-holding group created when it was named Coke’s global marketing network partner in November 2021. OpenX uses an integrated model that manages end-to-end creative, media, data and marketing technology across Coke’s portfolio. Recent output from the shop includes a Coke campaign with model Gigi Hadid celebrating shared connections through food and ads promoting a rebrand for Fanta that features the fruit-flavored soda’s first global design.
In Q1, Coke also made efforts to remain on top of emerging technology trends which have captivated the marketing world and general public. The company was the primary to benefit from a recent alliance between OpenAI and Bain & Company related to generative AI. The first fruit of the partnership, a campaign called “Create Real Magic,” asked artists to make use of the AI-powered ChatGPT and DALL-E tools to create ads for Coke, with select winners displayed on billboards in high-traffic neighborhoods in New York City and London.
Speaking on the strategy behind work like “Create Real Magic,” CEO Quincey said that Coke’s marketing has grow to be “rather more digital during the last three years” and that the shift is beginning to drive a difference with demographics which have previously been hard to win over.
“[You’re] beginning to see an impact come through on the mixture recruiting numbers, on the mixture engagement with Gen Z and the rise of Gen Z coming into the franchise,” said Quincey on the earnings call.
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