The Big Red Bank is officially closed.
So proclaimed Scott McCune, vice president of global partnerships and experiential marketing for The Coca-Cola Company at the SportAccord Convention in London recently.
Hearing those words from the leading TOP (The Olympic Partner) sponsor may send shivers down the throats of sponsorship-thirsty properties, but McCune wasn’t suggesting for a second that Big Red was getting out of the sports or entertainment marketing games. In fact, quite the opposite.
Within minutes of announcing the bank teller window was closed, McCune made it clear to the audience that they have plenty of money for great ideas. However, how that money is going to be spent is changing dramatically.
If you think of Coke as a sponsor, you think ubiquity. Their products are consumed by 1/4 of the world’s population and they do business in more countries than the U.N. Sponsorship helped fuel that global expansion. For the 1928 Games in Amsterdam, Coke shipped over 1,000 cases on a ship for the U.S. team members. They also set up refreshment shacks, which witnessed the first sale of Coca-Cola on foreign soil.
By 1934, Coke signed Johnny Weissmuller as their first Olympic spokesperson. “Tarzan,” as Weissmuller became known in his post-Olympic acting career, was a swimming gold medalist, and the rest is history.
Over time, as Coke became more and more involved with sponsorship, McCune characterized their approach quite bluntly: “If it MOVED, we would sponsor it, and if it STOOD STILL, we would paint it red!” At a minimum, this is a company that understands itself.
Fast forward to 2011 and Coca-Cola has a very clear picture of what they want.
YOUTH. CREATIVITY. FLAIR.
Yes, McCune talked to more strategic principles such as shared vision, innovation and common values. But he was quite clear: they are open to big ideas.
As they move into the music business, they found amazing synergies with their 2010 World Cup sponsorship and integration of the anthem “Wavin’ Flag” by K’Naan. Recently they conducted the world’s first live, consumer-driven song creation featuring Maroon 5 in a studio in London. The band took input from consumers around the world for a crowdsourced song they created on the fly in 24 hours. The outcome, “Is Anybody Out There,” is now available on the Coca-Cola website.
Big ideas indeed. Not necessarily fueled by big rights fees. As McCune made clear, they have the most powerful marketing machinery in the world. They have the resources to make stuff happen. What they need is a steady of diet of better and better ideas.
Coke has also recognized the incredible power of doing good with their marketing dollars. He showed a video of their 2010 torch participant selection process, which was largely driven by Sogo Active (full disclosure: this was in partnership with our clients at ParticipACTION and we were the agency behind it). Sogo Active rewarded 1,500 youth who became more physically active with a chance to carry the torch.
McCune noted that they now have a global mandate to get MORE YOUTH INVOLVED IN SPORTS. Wow. Read that over carefully.
It has become crystal clear that social marketing can generate profits for corporations. The cliché providers will tell you it has to be genuine. Oh thanks, why don’t you tell me to breathe while you are at it?
What I will tell you is this. If it “feels good” to you as a human being, it will feel good to a consumer. And if it feels good to a consumer, it is going to generate sales for you.
The Big Red Bank is closed.
But the Big Red Social Marketer, Music Label, Sports Advocate, Idea Kitchen, Promotional Innovator, Environmental Leader is ready and waiting 24/7.
Is your brand?