New Coca-Cola Imagery Invites Chinese to Celebrate the Spirit of Sharing a Coke

Ogilvy Shares a Big Opportunity with a Young Designer

SHANGHAI, April 18, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- The Coca-Cola Company and Ogilvy & Mather Advertising Shanghai have teamed up to create a new outdoor execution to celebrate the spirit and happiness that comes with sharing a bottle of Coke. 

The fresh imagery is the latest part of The Coca-Cola Company's ongoing global marketing campaign, "Open Happiness," which brings smiles and happiness to the lives of people all over the world.

The iconic imagery conveys sharing in a manner that is uniquely own-able as the only two elements in the entire visual are both trademarks of Coke, as well as worldwide icons: the "Dynamic Ribbon" and the "Contour Bottle."

"In a market like China where clutter is the norm, the simple lines and hyper-minimalistic design, which even leaves out Coke's logo, are a show-stopping example of 'less is more,'" said Graham Fink, Chief Creative Officer of O&M China. "Beyond its obvious beauty, what made everyone so excited is that the design is inherently universal – we expect it to bring smiles to people everywhere from Shanghai to Istanbul to Buenos Aires – without any modification at all."

Stephen Drummond, Creative Excellence Director, The Coca- Cola Company, Asia Pacific, said, "There is a delightful story in how this design was created by a 20 year old Hong Kong designer who is still at Design School. It's a great example of how as a company we have learnt to not only embrace, but to actively cultivate content from all sources."

Knowing that Coca-Cola wanted to communicate the spirit of sharing a Coke in an iconic and distinctive way, Ogilvy's Chief Creative Officer personally tracked down and reached out to Jonathan Mak Long, a young student-artist who had previously gained internet acclaim for his Steve Jobs tribute which went viral around the world soon after the Apple founders' passing. The resulting effort for Coca-Cola yielded this design, which conveys in the simplest way imaginable the spirit of sharing, friendship and happiness that is sparked each time a bottle of Coke is passed from one hand to another.

Making its debut in Shanghai this past weekend, the outdoor execution will run in bus shelters and elevators across the city.

View the photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ogilvychina_2011/sets/72157629836705811/    

Track the buzz on Twitter through the #CokeHands hashtag.

CREDITS
Project title: #CokeHands
Client: The Coca-Cola Company
Brief:  Communicate the spirit of sharing a Coke in a uniquely own-able and iconic manner
Creative agency: Ogilvy & Mather Advertising/Shanghai
Chief Creative Officer: Graham Fink
Designer: Jonathan Mak Long
Account Management: Martin Murphy
Exposure: OOH

About Ogilvy & Mather Ogilvy & Mather is one of the largest marketing communications companies in the world. Through its specialty units, the company provides a comprehensive range of marketing services including: advertising; public relations and public affairs; branding and identity; shopper and retail marketing; healthcare communications; direct, digital, promotion and relationship marketing. Ogilvy & Mather services Fortune Global 500 companies as well as local businesses through its network of more than 450 offices in 120 countries. It is a WPP company (NASDAQ: WPPGY). For more information, visit www.ogilvy.com.