Trend: Coke’s Experiential Marketing

Marketers have to rethink their strategies: Today, no more than 15% of the US population can be hit with a tv-ad at primetime - in the mid-1980s, the number was still 40%. Thanks to the growing use of devices like TiVo and other Digital Video Recorders, consumers can just skip the advertisements completely. Companies have to figure out new ways to introduce their product into the daily lives of their target group.

Event marketing, product placement, sponsorships, and digital marketing are just some of the marketing forms which are replacing the traditional TV ad more and more. Coca-Cola Co. took this even a step further, by opening its own “Coke Red Lounge” in shopping centers in the suburbs of Chicago and Los Angeles.

The lounges are “experiential spaces” where teens can hang out and learn about new music, games and movies. Next to the custom-built furniture, there is a huge media wall with plasma screen, a sound dome, and, of course, vending-machines offering the company’s soft drinks. Which teenager could resist spending his afternoons and evenings here - especially when there is no other place to go, except the local church-group? Thank you, Coke!

While there are still no numbers out there to measure the success of Coke Red Lounge, TNS Media Intelligence/CMR estimates that last year through October, Coke spent just $188.7 million on TV advertising in the U.S. In 2001 Coke still spent $268.1 million on TV ads.

In the future we will see more and more campaigns which seek to enter the everyday lives of consumers with an experiential approach. Money well spent. Gathering places for socially neglected teenagers are just the beginning. Coke recently unveiled a high-definition ad-sculpture in New York and launched an active-lifestyle program/workout at schools and workplaces. We also hope for Pampers or Huggies sponsoring a baby-sitter center in our favorite restaurant, a laundry-detergent company sponsoring a cleaning-lounge at huge open-air concerts, and so on.

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