Coke goes old school while upping digital ante
The “AHH Effect” advertising campaign Coca-Cola launched last year with a social and digital first philosophy is getting a dose of old fashioned television this spring.
The campaign’s first dedicated television ad began airing recently on teen-favorite networks, including Adult Swim, MTV and MTV2. The 30-second “Feels Like AHH” spot is designed to recreate the feeling of drinking a Coke through a fun montage-style music video highlighting a collection of the interactive games, videos and GIFs found within AHH.com. A second television commercial, “This is AHH,” will premiere at the end of April, and will be the first-ever spot produced by Coca-Cola to exclusively feature user-generated content.
Both efforts are a continuation of a campaign begun last Spring when Coke sought to bring to life the feeling of happiness, uplift and delicious refreshment people experience while drinking an ice-cold Coke. That feeling, something Coke refers to as “The AHH Effect,” was found within the campaign’s 61 different AHH.com URLs where each URL contained an additional H.
To generate content for the April spot, Coke has given teens until April 10 to submit a short video clip showing what it feels like when they take a sip of Coke and feature their own personal expression of AHH.
“Our efforts to connect with teens through ‘The AHH Effect’ exceeded our expectations in 2013. With digital still at the core, we’re now expanding into real-world activations and TV as the next phase of its evolution,” said Andy McMillin, vp, Coca-Cola Trademark, Coca-Cola North America. “‘The AHH Effect’ will be everywhere teens will be and we’re going to connect with them in ways that appeal to their natural curiosity and love of fun, bite-sized content.”
Coca-Cola enlisted some of teens’ favorite online celebrities at AHH.com with content featuring viral dance sensation Marquese Scott and YouTube stars Joe Penna and Kurt Hugo Schneider.
In addition, AHH.com has been redesigned and features new experiences that follow the same unique recipe of randomness, creativity and delight that caught teens’ attention in the campaign’s first year. One of the most popular experiences called “Cat or Not” has transformed into the new “Laser Cats,” which challenges users to keep a laser beam from an ever-increasing herd of laser-hungry cats. Another, “Fortune Cookie,” reminds teens that a refreshing sip of Coke makes you feel like the luckiest person in the world with an endless supply of fortunes.
“Our mobile-friendly approach really resonated, but we believe it was our willingness to try something new and speak to teens in their language that’s the real success story here,” said Jennifer Healan, Group Director, Integrated Marketing Content and Design, Coca-Cola North America. “The content was at times quirky and light-hearted, but was absolutely crucial to starting a dialogue. And we’re listening by adding more levels and functionality to the games they love and constantly introducing new content based on their suggestions.”
Offline, behind-the-label content featuring “AHH” moments will appear on 20-ounce Coca-Cola products and at partner locations like AMC Theatres, 7-Eleven, McDonalds, Domino’s Pizza, Simon Malls and Six Flags. Customer experiences are designed to drive fans to various “AHH” URLs.
Coke worked with Wieden+Kennedy in Portland, Ore., to create the campaign.