Jun 11 2007
Coca-Cola’s MySpace, the Sprite Yard
It looks like Coca-Cola has stepped-up their Internet marketing campaign:
The Coca-Cola Company is redefining the relationship between consumers and their sparkling beverages with the launch of the Sprite Yard, a real-time digital “on-the-go†community that provides social connections and downloadable content via their mobile phone anytime, anywhere. This mobile marketing breakthrough launched in China on June 1st and will go live in the US later this month.
The Sprite Yard creates an entertaining social experience beyond the value of traditional online destinations by providing consumers constant mobile, social and brand connectivity through mobile devices such as cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs).
Coke is definitely on the right track. The marketing money being spent on Internet will boggle the mind:
Studies have predicted that mobile marketing will increase sharply in the coming years, and Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have all introduced mobile-friendly search interfaces.
Mobile advertising could account for 25% of global internet advertising spend by 2011.
But what are they really trying to accomplish?
“The brand becomes the enabler of mobile social connections,†Mark J. Greatrex, senior vice president of marketing communications and insights at Coca-Cola, told a gathering of the nation’s leading mobile marketing executives. “The Yard users literally have their friends in their pockets.â€
The mobile marketing effort is part of Coca-Cola’s plan to “create, connect and customize on-the-go experiences,†according to Mr. Greatrex.
Sprite’s “usage over-indexes with mobile phone usage,†Mr. Greatrex said. “This is Generation C and they’re right at the center of the mobile target audience.â€
Genius. In case you have not heard, this is how Wikipedia defines Generation C:
Generation C could be said to comprise the people who use Web 2.0, create user-generated content and participate in the co-creation of products and services.
It’s getting harder and harder for marketers to reach Generation C and this effort means users will go to the Sprite Yard to interact with their peers. What could be easier? Only one question remains, how long will it take Generation C to see through the marketing campaign and declare the Sprite Yard as lame? There is a reason why it is hard to reach Generation C, they are at least a couple of steps ahead of the marketers.
