Coke spices up UK holiday campaign with cinnamon-scented tube station

Dive Brief:

Coca-Cola is taking its long-running U.K. holiday campaign "Holidays are Coming" in a new direction by focusing on Coke Zero, rather than the classic product, according to The Drum. The brand is also launching a Snapchat lens that features a branded content link with youth-focused publisher LADbible and explores how "Holidays are Coming" became so iconic.
Coca-Cola is also marking its first-ever on-pack promotion with Capital's Jingle Bell Ball via a social media campaign, having previously sponsored a live stream of the radio station's event through Capital’s Twitter account. The beverage marketer will also feature The Kingdom Choir's version of the "Holidays are Coming" song on its social channels.
Along with its social media campaigns, Coca-Cola is debuting a new limited-edition cinnamon flavor to its Coke Zero line. To promote the new flavor, the Oxford Circus Underground station in London will be "cinnamon-scented" to remind consumers of Christmas.

Dive Insight:

Coca-Cola is walking the line between nostalgia and new ideas by continuing its iconic "Holidays are Coming" campaign, but adding a number of elements aimed at appealing to young adult consumers. The efforts are also a way to refresh the campaign to stay relevant to a new generation, while retaining some of the same creative elements.

The new U.K. holiday campaign focusing on Coke Zero is in line with Coca-Cola's efforts to focus its marketing on its diet soda products. Coca-Cola's drink volume grew 3% in Q1 2018, including a double-digit growth in Coke Zero in positive performance in North America. Coke also revamped its Diet Coke products with a slimmer can and new flavors. The products are popular with millennials and Gen Zers, who have preferred less-sugary alternatives to soda. The limited-edition zero-sugar cinnamon flavor could help Coke drive sales around the holidays, especially with the novelty of a cinnamon-scented tube station.

Adding a branded holiday-themed Snapchat lens will help Coke broaden the reach of its campaign among younger consumers, one of the largest user groups of the platform. The move is part of Coca-Cola's newly announced digital-focused marketing strategy. Eighty-four percent of teens report using Snapchat at least once a month, just slightly less than the 85% who report using Instagram, according to recent Piper Jaffray research. Forty-six percent of teens list Snapchat as their favorite platform.

The campaign represents a shift for Coke, which has focused on its legacy in past U.K. campaigns. In April, the company launched "We Do," featuring images of Elvis Presley and the tagline, "They don’t make 'em like thy used to. We do." The campaign promoted Coke's heritage, qualities and how its recipe hasn't changed since its introduction 132 years ago, outside of the famous failure of New Coke in the 1980s.