Buy the world a Coke!

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Coca-Cola is thinking mobile first when developing all future digital marketing activity as it looks to expand its reach across platforms.

The soft drinks company is growing its entire digital budget, at the expense of other media such as TV and cinema, as it looks to communicate with consumers whilst they are on the go in the hope of driving impulse purchases and further engagement with the brand.

Speaking at IAB Mobile Engage in London earlier this month, Jude Brooks, Coca-Cola’s digital activation manager for Great Britain and Ireland, said: “We are investing in apps, which is a huge opportunity for us, we’re optimising our websites and brand experiences and trying to put mobile as the starting point and desktop as a secondary channel

[when it comes to digital advertising].”

Brooks admitted that investing so much in mobile is a “challenge” because the platform is so diverse, with many different handsets and operating systems, but this is outweighed by the opportunities to reach people in a new way.

She added: “It’s definitely a challenge [working in] such an immature market. It’s easy to spend £5m on a TV campaign as it’s clear what you’re buying and the reach you will achieve as most companies will have years of data that shows it works.

“The challenge with mobile – and it’s the same in digital – is that it’s so diverse and there’s so many different ways you can do it. I kind of wish we were still in the days of Mad Men, where you could just buy a spot on Coronation Street and you would know the reach, now it’s so complicated that it’s hard for companies to grow that spend.”

To demonstrate its mobile first strategy, Coca-Cola showcased its Project Rebrief campaign at the event, which was produced in partnership with Google.

The campaign sees Coca-Cola’s famous “Hilltop” TV ad reimagined for the mobile age by allowing consumers to “buy the world a Coke” via a mobile app and receive a video thank you from the recipient.

Also speaking at the event, Simon Morgan, industry leader of technology and hardware at Google, praised Coca-Cola’s “mobile first” strategy and urged other businesses to adopt a similar approach.

He added: “Getting mobile right will mean your business will have a better future; get it wrong and your business won’t be as bright.”

Click on the image below and see if you’re as impressed as I was?