WHERE THERE ARE TACOS, THERE’S COCA-COLA
Coca-Cola faced the challenge of being perceived primarily as a soda company, limiting its relevance to health-conscious consumers. They aimed to broaden brand perception among a general audience, showcasing their evolution into a total beverage company with a diverse portfolio to meet every occasion and desire.
Creative Idea
Coca-Cola revealed its diverse beverage acquisitions through a founder's scaling success story.
Coca-Cola showcased its expansive portfolio beyond soda, featuring Honest Tea, Fairlife, and Zico, to prove its evolution into a total beverage company, ensuring a suitable drink for every occasion and consumer desire, reinforcing its ubiquitous presence in diverse settings.
The Seven Year Old Camera That Conquered Scandinavia
Selective Red and Schindler's List
To achieve a look of "subtle salience," Uncommon Stockholm utilized a visual technique inspired by Schindler’s List and Where’s Waldo?. The campaign features authentic black - and - white street photography where the only color present is Coke Red. This color wasn't photoshopped onto products; instead, it highlights existing brand artifacts found naturally in Mexican taquerias, such as weathered crates, plastic stools, and vintage signage. In a rare move for a global brand, Coca - Cola allowed "imperfect branding," permitting the use of photos where crates were stacked upside - down or broken to preserve the grit of the scene.
Street Photography on a Budget
Danish photographer Frederik Trovatten captured the imagery after living in Mexico City for four years. Eschewing high - end commercial gear, Trovatten shot the entire campaign using a 7 - year - old Fujifilm X-T3. This choice emphasized atmosphere over polished product shots, focusing on the "soul" of the taqueria. The production also ensured ethical authenticity by commissioning the real taco stands featured in the photos, rather than building sets.
Dominating the Taco Friday Culture
The campaign strategically tapped into the Nordic "Tacofredag" (Taco Friday) phenomenon, where 4 in 10 Swedes eat tacos monthly. The results were record - breaking: the creative achieved a 93% Brand Fluency score, the highest ever recorded by *OOH Today*. Even more impressive was the 78% Fast Fluency score, proving that 8 in 10 viewers recognized the brand instantly without seeing a traditional logo. To bridge the gap between the photography and the local market, the Swedish launch featured iconic duos like Pernilla Wahlgren and Sofia Wistam to promote a physical pop - up taqueria on Scheelegatan 28 in Stockholm.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
Coca-Cola credibly delivered a vast distribution network and investment capital, enabling niche brands like Honest Tea to scale and democratize organics.
Category
The beverage category often segments brands distinctly, but Coca-Cola leveraged its power to integrate diverse offerings under one corporate umbrella.
Customer
Consumers increasingly desired healthier, organic, and diverse beverage options for various occasions, moving beyond traditional sugary sodas.
Culture
The cultural trend towards health-consciousness, organic products, and diversified consumption choices made Coca-Cola's expanded portfolio highly relevant.
Company
Coca-Cola credibly delivered a vast distribution network and investment capital, enabling niche brands like Honest Tea to scale and democratize organics.
Category
The beverage category often segments brands distinctly, but Coca-Cola leveraged its power to integrate diverse offerings under one corporate umbrella.
Strategy:
Demonstrate expansive portfolio capabilities to redefine brand perception and meet evolving consumer preferences.
Customer
Consumers increasingly desired healthier, organic, and diverse beverage options for various occasions, moving beyond traditional sugary sodas.
Culture
The cultural trend towards health-consciousness, organic products, and diversified consumption choices made Coca-Cola's expanded portfolio highly relevant.
Strategy:
Demonstrate expansive portfolio capabilities to redefine brand perception and meet evolving consumer preferences.
Results
Seth Goldman managed to get an order for 15,000 bottles for Honest Tea from the local Whole Foods buying office. Honest Tea became the best-selling tea in the natural foods niche. Through the partnership with Coca-Cola, Honest Tea was able to scale and 'democratize organics,' reaching a much larger market within the U.S. and internationally. Honest Kids juice pouches became available in McDonald's Happy Meals, making organic options vastly more accessible. Goldman received an award in 2011 from AMADC Marketing Hall of Fame and was named '2015 Executive of the Year'.
15,000 bottles
initial Whole Foods order
Best-selling
tea in natural foods niche
McDonald's Happy Meals
distribution for Honest Kids
Strategy Technique
Make the Invisible Visible
The campaign visually and narratively exposes Coca-Cola's vast, often unseen, portfolio of beverages beyond its iconic soda. It highlights how brands like Honest Tea and Fairlife are part of its mission to cater to every consumer desire.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Story-Driven Campaign
The campaign tells the story of Honest Tea's journey from a niche brand to widespread availability through partnership with Coca-Cola. This narrative effectively illustrates Coca-Cola's strategy of diversifying its portfolio to meet varied consumer needs.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
The campaign's craft excels in strategically expanding Coca-Cola's brand portfolio by innovating product distribution, articulating a clear mission, and curating a diverse range of well-designed beverages for a broader audience.
The campaign demonstrates exceptional execution in strategic product distribution, notably by placing Honest Tea in high-reach channels like McDonald's Happy Meals to achieve mass-market penetration and fulfill its scaling objective.
The intentional integration of Honest Tea into new consumption contexts, such as Happy Meals, redefined the consumer experience and broadened access to organic options as a key part of the campaign's execution.
The campaign effectively articulates its overarching strategic mission and brand philosophy through concise and impactful statements like 'democratize organics' and 'Beverages for Life,' guiding the entire initiative and communicating its value.
The craft extended to the strategic selection and integration of brands with inherently strong product and brand designs, forming a cohesive and appealing 'Beverages for Life' portfolio that was presented to consumers.
The impactful synergy comes from how precise media placement, clear strategic messaging, and carefully curated product design together democratize access and shape consumer experience.
