Coca-Cola is Seeing Red and Merry…Holidays!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. However, a while back at the beginning of November, I made a post regarding potential confusion over the new white Coke cans. Well apparently Coca-Cola recently announced that they would be switching the WWF polar bear cans to red (the colour well-assoicated with the brand) after many consumers picking up and opening the white can thinking it was the diet variation of the soft drink.

As you can see below, this season’s Hong Kong Coca-Cola can went straight to the red polar bear packaging:

Hong Kong can – Merry Christmas

Interestingly, the graphics on the package remain similar to North America’s white polar bear cans promoting the World Wildlife Fund. However, the red cans from HK don’t state anything about WWF or the arctic. Instead, they read ‘Merry Christmas’. It goes to show how Coca-Cola has used polar bears in their holiday campaigns so effectively that the identical graphic elements can conveniently be used for different efforts; 1) for the animal organization’s arctic conservation in one part of the world and 2) for Christmas packaging on the other side of the world.

Merry….umm…Holidays!

Recent Coca-Cola holiday packaging in North America have leaned towards using the term ‘Holiday’ instead of ‘Christmas’:

Holiday 2007! Which holiday? I guess all of them!

Perhaps, this is a way to appeal to all people celebrating different holidays. With Canada and USA being home to citizens from a variety of cultures, this is a safe way to avoid excluding any groups. I believe NBA star Michael Jordan once said, the reason he never openly supported or endorsed a politician was because he did not want to affect his shoe sales. He figured supporters of the opposing group would stop purchasing his products.

So, the Coke cans are back to red (as they have been forever). As someone who engages in art and drawing, I personally like the unique look of white polar bear cans, but from a business/marketing point, they should always be dominantly red. With thats said, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Holidays, and Happy Boxing Day!

** Boxing Day is a holiday in Canada but has nothing to do with punching other people in the face. It’s a little like our version of Black Friday, where a lot of shoppers fill up every retail store and go crazy over deals. So maybe during the chaos, people actually do get punched in the face.

They Know What You Watched Last Summer.

Our tweets are being tracked like never before. Bluefin Labs brings forth a technology, which analyzes social media and mines out TV viewing behaviour data. The Nov/Dec 2011 issue of Technology Review explains how it works:

Coke can made up of various tweets, hashtags and FB commments.

First, Bluefin gains information about the Twitter user. The clues it uses are interesting. The article explains that Bluefin seeks clues about the author’s gender and age.

“In this example, a female screen name, use of multiple exclamation points, and references to family members are hints of female authorship,”

Check out the highlighted portions of this actual TV viewer’s tweet below (if you can make it out; I used a camera phone. Squint hard):

Perhaps, other female twitter traits include: ❤  🙂  xoxo

So, this Bluefin stuff actually figures out the demographics about a person, then analyses the content and what they’re saying about all the things they view on the tube. Therefore, clients include advertisers and TV networks who make use of this valuable viewership information.

The magazine article also includes how the nosy technology analyzed activities about this Diet Pepsi commercial starring Sofia Vergara:

Technology Review says that Bluefin,

“knew the ad had run exactly 746 times, on 260 shows, and it knew who had commented on those 260 shows during the commercial’s run. Among those 1.8 million people, mentions of Diet Pepsi were up 19 percent.”

Pretty impressive. Who knows; maybe by 2017, they’ll figure out how to read viewers’ minds?

– RFT

White Coca-Cola Cans = WWF Champion

Does anyone else still associate the acronym WWF with professional wrestling? Actually, Coca-Cola cans have turned from red to white for a campaign with the World Wildlife Fund regarding the protection and conservation of polar bears’ Arctic home (Business Wire). In addition to helping raise awareness, the 18 can box states that Coca-Cola will donate $2 million by 2016 to WWF.

While Coca-Cola essentially “owns” the colour red in beverage packaging, this design shows a rarity of stepping away from their familar colour for the regular version of the drink. In fact, it may be possible that this can could initially lead to confusion on the flavour/variation as the dominantly white packaging is similar to the colour commonly associated with diet sodas.

WWF = World Wildlife Fund. WWE = wrestling. Now you know.

Similarly, I recall people confusing the all gold Coke cans from the Vancouver Games as caffeine-free, as gold is used by Coke, Pepsi, and even Dr Pepper to communicate that variation of their drink. However, during the winter months, as these new polar bear cans fill up grocery stores, food outlets and convenience stores, consumers will gradually accept them as this year’s winter packaging. Here, the clean white can is represents the idea snow and the visuals of polar bears is associated to Coke’s past holiday packaging for many years.

Personally, I like this white polar bear design for regular Coke as it is unique. Amusingly, the local store carrying them still has the summer Coke packaging on the shelves. The seasons in Canada change rapidly!

– RFT

Curves of Coca-Cola!

The importance of package design in marketing is discussed in CNBC’s documentary Coca-Cola: The Real Story Behind the Real Thing. Here, Coke’s 2-litre bottle shape is adjusted to appear more curvaceous. The soda company’s representatives explain that these details to the shape have a ‘magical look and feel’ and have actually led to an increase in sales. The detail is subtle but demonstrates enough visual elegance to stand out in consumers’ minds. Take a look below to compare:

2L bottles of Coke and Pepsi side by side (like best friends)

Coke and its curves!

Straight up Pepsi bottle yo!

 – RFT

Summer Coke 2011 – Before Irene

This past summer Coca-Cola, released another summer series of can graphics in the USA. I recently went across the border and got my hands on them. Interestingly, the three places I obtained the Coke happen to be areas featured on the news lately, particularly about the tropical storm affecting the east coast. Hopefully, no major damage occurs there but here are some photos from sunnier days:

Baseball –        Location: Boston, Mass.

Stars and Stripes –     Location: Newport, The State of Rhode Island…and Providence Plantations 🙂

Kites –               Location: New York, New York

Surprisingly, Canada got its share of six summer cans. Take a look:

Canada Summer Coke Series 2011 – Is that a campfire above the guitar? or a flower?

The graphics style for the Canada cans differ from the ones from the United States series. Noticeably, the art for the U.S. cans seem simple and minimalistic using basic designs such as a circle (ball) and diamond (kite) creating a slightly elegant appearance for their summer packaging. The six Coke cans from Canada, however, involve more detailed diagrams such as mountain and sky, barbeque grill, and guitar. Here, a somewhat more fun approach is used.

Another, and perhaps more subtle difference in design is the colouring scheme. The Canada cans’ graphics are white while the U.S.A. series use silver/metal. The choices for both are appropriate. For the Canadian set, the white allows the detailed designs to stand out and appear bold. For the American cans, the metal colour compliments the neat and tidy art, giving it a more modern appearance.

One added feature for the Canadian summer series is the ‘Summer Ready’ indicator located on each can, which turns from white to red when the can is cold!

This bottle silhouette should turn red when cold. As you can see, the can is warm.

BevWire does a great job explaining the element of the Coke package.

Which summer series do you prefer?

Good Night (Tropical Storm) Irene.

rft

Far East Movement # 3 – Scan the Can!

An interesting feature seen on some Coca-Cola cans from Asia are the UPC bar codes. This Coke Zero can was recently acquired from Taipei, Taiwan. Take a look at the barcode:

This can was $10 NT or approximately $0.33 CAD

It resembles the ever-popular Coca-Cola bottle silhouette! It’s such a subtle detail but at the same time, a nice little touch to the package. Similarly, here is a Coke can from China available a few years back. The UPC is very interesting:

I bought a new camera, but it’s currently being fixed. Therefore, picture quality – not so great.

It appears to be Chinese architecture, including the trademark pagoda. The use of creative design elements and attention to such small details of a pop can are admirable. The little things count!

– rft3

Far East Movement # 2 – Ice Ice Baby

An interesting product offered in Asia is a plastic Coke bottle that actually forms ice inside.  It is available from vending machines where the front reads: Twist Open For a Blast of Real Ice

How it works…

To get the ice to form, the drinker must first open the bottle (probably to allow oxygen to enter for the crazy chemical formula to work) and then close it. The bottle must then be turned upside-down and immediately flipped right-side up again. Once this happens, small ice pebbles form inside the bottle taking up about the top 1/4 of the liquid.

One bottle is $11 HK or approximatley $1.40 CAD

It’s a pretty interesting concept. The beverage already comes cold, however, the whole “blast of real ice” thing is really just to add some fun and interest into buying a bottle of Coke. Whether a person is thirsty or not, the idea of this bottle may be enough for someone to purchase one anyways.

It would probably be OK to have these machines in North America in certain places like amusement parks, select shopping centres, tourist attractions etc. to make them somewhat special. Since the concept is pretty much a small, fun gimmick added to a national consumer product, if these bottles were offered everywhere, the idea could get old quickly. Nonetheless, pretty cool stuff.

– rft3

Way Back When # 1 – Pepsi A.M.

It was meant to replace everyone’s usual morning beverage and to push soft-drink consumption bright and early. The New York Times described Pepsi A.M. during its initial test marketing in 1989 as containing about 28% more caffeine than regular Pepsi. However, it would still have 77% less than coffee or tea.

That yellow part at the top – I guess that represents the sun?

Perhaps, the test product was too aggressive in encouraging pop consumption in the morning. The name itself associates the drink with morning consumption, which may have refrained people subconsciously from having the product in the evening or even lunch time.

Natalie Yeadon, a business and social media strategist at Impetus HealthCare, recently spoke to students at an alumni event at the University of Toronto Mississauga regarding the importance of graduates branding themselves in preparation for the workforce. Here, she referenced the result of poor branding in Pepsi A.M. After the event, I asked Natalie her opinion of why the drink did not work and she jokingly replied, “Because coffee just tastes too good”.

While Pepsi’s motivation for ‘A.M.’ at the time was a decline in coffee consumption, Natalie adds, “some habits are too hard to break”.

Currently, Pepsi Max offers that extra caffeine kick. The name ‘Max’ allows it to relate to ‘maximum’ energy and is branded along with Nascar and Snoop Dog as fun and energetic.

Zooming by at Zero Calories per hour!

Pepsi Mizzle

Some Similar Stuff…

Pepsi Cino

Here, Pepsi Cino includes the coffee taste. I like the name ‘Cino’ more than ‘A.M. since it adds a nice foreign touch to the beverage – like you’re drinking something exotic. In terms of taste, perhaps the a coffee flavoured cola isn’t what would appeal to the North American market.

The best part of waking up…

Coca-Cola Blak

This also includes the flavour of real coffee. The branding is excellent as the modern design really makes it look sophisticated. Again, the naming ‘Blak’ with that symbol over the letter ‘a’ gives it a European feeling – like something very high in quality. The packaging also breaks away from the traditional red, which Coca-Cola owns in the soft drink world. In this case, it works for this particular flavour and it makes it stand out as something very unique.

Once you go Blak…

Would you want to drink Pepsi Cino or Coca-Cola Blak? Or is coffee flavoured cola just too weird?

– rft

pop element

* Pepsi A.M. photo courtesy of fellow collector, John from usasoda.com                   * Coca-Cola Blak image credit goes to kbo on Flickr.

New Coke Can – 125 Years in the Making!

Coca-Cola is celebrating its 125th Anniversary with specially designed cans around the world. Here is an ‘OK’ design for the Canadian version.

Here’s to 125 Years More!

It’s simply a photo-realistic image of a Coke bottle. It may come across as if little effort was put into this packaging – perhaps, a quick Photoshop job.

Some other countries in Asia have some creative and fun elements. Check these cans out by British artist, James Jarvis.

The 125th Anniversary set in Hong Kong.

Any thoughts on the designs? Which style do you prefer?

– rft3

Pop Element

Clean, Modern & Sleek

Cherry Pepsi Cans – Past to Present

There seems to be a shift in soda pop can graphics. As seen in the photo above, the Cherry Pepsi cans were once very busy and filled with graphics and elements. Later, the art evolved into a much more clean, modern and sleek appearance. I compare the past ‘busier’ designs to ‘children’s candy’ packaging. Remember those fruit snacks that you brought to elementary school?

Fruit Rolls Ups – and it comes with tattoos!

Gushers – they are filled with this juicy stuff.

As for the ‘cleaner’ side, that can be compared to ‘Apple’ product packaging – very clean.

It is like something out of a chemical lab!

Currently, the main family of Pepsi cans all incorporate a much more simple appearance, giving off a much more elegant look.

– RFT