Coca-Cola continues to pave the way for millennial-driven mobile storytelling by sending two team members on a cross-country expedition to record their experiences for its social channels, highlighting the need for marketers to diversify their branded content with universal themes.

The beverage marketer?s digital magazine ? titled ?Coca-Cola Journey? ? is sending two millennial women on a cross-country tour to create content showcasing how Coca-Cola and its brands are linked to local U.S. communities. By entrusting these individuals with access to Coca-Cola?s Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter channels, the company is taking another step forward in its initiative to display less overtly branded content and more inspiring, relatable posts.

?Journey X Journey storytellers Emily Bucherati and Meagan Priselac, millennials themselves, will source content at every stop along the way, feeding not only Coca-Cola Journey channels on Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter (@cocacolaco via #journeyxjourney), but that of some of our U.S. brand pages as well,? said Doug Busk, group director of social and digital communications at The Coca-Cola Company.   

?As our in-house social media experts, when they aren?t on the road, Meagan and Emily instinctively know how to craft and curate share-worthy content.?

Uncapping mobile publishing efforts
The beverage brand kicked off the Journey  X Journey expedition yesterday in its hometown of Atlanta.

Coca-Cola selected two of its millennial-aged team members, digital communications specialist Emily Bucherati and digital and social media content specialist Meagan Priselac, to represent the company and its digital magazine on a nationwide tour spanning 21 cities.

Coca-Cola?s brand publishing efforts seek to deliver content centered on how the company and its subsidiaries are connected to local communities around the United States.

The two chosen influencers will upload posts to Coca-Cola?s Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and Facebook channels in real-time, delineating how the beverage marketer?s products are a part of the nation?s cultural fabric.

Ms. Priselac and Ms. Bucherati will visit city landmarks such as ballparks and restaurants, where they will create content specifically geared toward millennial consumers ? including content related to sports, music, culture and food.

The tour spans from coast to coast, with stops planned in Dallas, Los Angeles, Chattanooga, Nashville and Chicago, among other cities.

Ms. Bucherati and Ms. Priselac will traverse the U.S. in a 2017 Ford Escape, which boasts Sync3 technology as well as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capabilities.

They will also be accompanied by Coca-Cola Journey?s mobile brand publishing unit, which consists of cameras, filming drones, production gear and editing equipment.

Spotlight on social
Consumers can virtually tag along on the Journey X Journey expedition by following Coca-Cola?s social media accounts as well as a dedicated microsite, www.coca-colacompany.com/journeyxjourney.

Individuals who are able to attend one of the stops on the multi-city tour can upload their personal experiences onto social media via the #JourneyxJourney hashtag.

The soda brand has engaged in a strong push for authentic and user-generated social content as of late.

The Coca-Cola Company?s Honest Tea brand recently captured a 15.6 percent increase in followers across its Facebook, Instagram and Twitter channels after rolling out a summer sweepstakes that leveraged the popularity of several social influencers and bloggers (see story).

Additionally, Coca-Cola joined the slew of marketers leveraging the excitement surrounding the summer Olympics by tapping global influencers to upload social media content defining their own meaningful successes and encouraging fans to join in the fun via the #ThatsGold hashtag (see story).

The brand?s efforts to include more millennials in its mobile storytelling initiatives will likely help it connect with younger consumers, one of its target demographics.

?We eye all of our capabilities through the lens of how it plays on mobile, whether on the site or the networks,? Mr. Busk said.

?Mobile engagement is the largest and fastest-growing engagement path for Journey, especially when considering the growing number of readers who interact exclusively via their favorite networks? mobile editions (Facebook, Twitter, etc.),? he said.

?To that theme, we were among the first brand journalists to be invited to publish via Facebook instant articles and we?re excited to launch the Journey Snapchat handle with Journey X Journey: https://www.snapchat.com/add/thecocacolaco.?