This new series of 18 mini-bottles was released in Brazil on January 15. The bottles are decorated in the flags of the 15 previous hosts of the world cup, plus the next 3 host nations (Brazil, Russia and Qatar). There are also 2 special-edition Coke bottles as well.

And there are even mini-coke cases to hold them in.

In order to collect a bottle, a fan must send in a certain number of bottle tops or can rings plus R 3.80 (about €1.20)

The bottles are made of aluminum, and don’t actually contain any Coke! But they are good for attaching to bags or phones or key chains as a bright accessory.

Interactive!

These mini-bottles were quite popular in ’80s, but now there is a new twist for the 21st century, based on Facebook and Augmented Reality. Here’s how it works:

“The intention is to provide an opportunity for fans to participate in the World Cup, as well as meet and make Brazilian friends,” Coca-Cola says in a press release.

The promotion of these special bottles is being backed by a broader print and broadcast campaign from J. Walter Thompson. Here is video of the promotion.

In just two years, the time that teens spent watching TV had dropped by over 10%, while the time on spent using their mobile was rapidly growing, so the decision was to use mobile as a means of interaction.

For years, people around the world have been used to interacting with Coke campaigns in the exact same way: buy a Coke, pull open the cap, and see what prizes are printed inside. But now, in Hong Kong, this happens using the mobile phone.

“CHOK!” is a current slang term in use by Hong Kong teens that means a sudden, rapid motion. Leveraging the popularity of this word, McCann created a mobile app that would literally let consumers “catch” Coke bottlecaps that were shown on a Coke TV ad.

When the ad aired each night, people would take their mobile phones and shake them at the TV as the bottle caps were shown. The phone would then indicate that some bottle caps had been “caught”, and the person could check to see if they had won prizes such as mobile games, discounts, or other virtual collectibles.

In essence, this turned an otherwise standard TV advert into an Coca-Cola’s first ever interactive, TV gaming promotion!

This was quickly taken up by the teens in Hong Kong, and it became an instant hit. Once people became familiar with the campaign, Coke ran the ad in cinemas and on outdoor billboards as well, and Chok! Chok! Chok! became a group phenomenon as well!

Eventually, as the game became even more popular, teens posted the TV ad on YouTube, and people could Chok! Chok! Chok! anytime of the day! At this point the ad was truly viral.

The Results

The results from this campaign were incredibly good.

This meant that the Coke ad was the most-watched ad in Hong Kong history!

To see more about this fun campaign, check out the video below.

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For more examples of mobile marketing by Coca-Cola:

“I’d Like To Buy The World A Coke”

Coke Christmas Campaign Uses White Cans & Mobile To Generate Donations

Fanta: Talking So Only Teens Can Hear

This is exactly what Google and Coke have done. They teamed up to re-interpret one of the most iconic ad campaigns of all time, with some of the most creative use of mobile technology that we have seen.

The results worked so well that the campaign was awarded the first Mobile Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions festival.

The Original

Forty years ago, Coca Cola ran a TV ad campaign that became one of the most successful in advertising history. The campaign was “Hilltop | I’d like to buy the world a Coke”

The original featured a collection of young people from around the world, standing on a hilltop in Italy signing a song with the refrain:

The original ad generated over one hundred thousand letters from consumers, and has been inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame.

(the full video is below)

Using Mobile to “Buy The World a Coke”

To help re-interpret this concept and bring it into the digital, internet-based, mobile world that we live in, a team of mobile experts from Google worked with Harvey Gabor who was the art director on the original campaign. They put together a new campaign – based on the same objectives as the original – but utilizing state-of-the-art mobile marketing.

Here is how the new campaign works.

Rich media ads running across the AdMob mobile ad network offer viewers the chance to actually send a free Coke to people around the world.

If the consumer wants to participate, they are given the option to choose the location for the delivery of the free Coke from a global map. The map indicates which cities have been equipped with the special Coke vending machines.

In addition to selecting the destination city, the consumer is also encouraged to write a small message to go along with the Coke. This of course ties in well with the basic “connecting people” idea of the campaign.

And since the Coke is often being sent to a country where the local language is different from the sending location, Google Translate is used to automatically convert the message into the language of the receiving country.

Finally, a message is sent to the special vending machine in the receiving city. These are specially modified Coke vending machines that have video touch screens mounted on the front.

Passers-by are alerted that the machine would like to give them a free Coke, courtesy of someone part way around the world. They can then press the button on the screen, they see the message from the sender, and they receive their free Coke.

And of course, in keeping with the “connecting people” theme, they are given a chance to record a video and/or text message to say thank you back to the sender. This lets the original viewer share their reaction to getting a free Coke.

This is a really interesting mobile campaign, but there is a lot going on (we didn’t even mention yet the computer generated video of the Coke being sent around the world!). Take a look at the video below which shows it all working together and gives a good overall feel for the campaign.

The Result

Although this was undoubtedly a very expensive campaign to put together and operate, it does show the incredible power to connect people that is inherent in today’s digital-internet-mobile ecosystem.

It maybe unlikely that any company trying to maximize their ROI would duplicate this approach, but it seems to be an absolute winner as a showcase to demonstrate what is achievable from mixing top creative talent with leading edge mobile technology.

More information about this campaign is available at www.projectrebrief.com.

This year, for their Christmas campaign, Coke has begun shipping Coke in an all-white can, and has been encouraging consumers to scan the can to make a contribution to the fund.

Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, said in a press release, “We want to help the polar bear — a beloved Coca-Cola icon since 1922 — by helping conserve its Arctic habitat. That’s why we’re using one of our greatest assets — our flagship brand, Coca-Cola — to raise awareness for this important cause.”

But this time, Coke has partnered with shopping rewards app CheckPoints to facilitate consumer engagement through mobile technology.

Coke has for many, many years be shipped in bright red cans, so the new white Coke cans are quickly noticed by consumers. Using the CheckPoints app, shoppers are able to scan the can while they are in the store, which takes them directly to a dedicated web site that explains how Coke is soliciting donations to a fund that helps preserve the polar bear’s natural habitat.

This new website, ArticHome.com, has been developed by Coke to “raise awareness and funds to help create a safe haven for polar bears.”

Users of the CheckPoints app can make donations on the spot to the fund and also receive rewards points that can be put toward a range of products, from gift cards to iPads. Coca-Cola is initially donating $2 million to WWF and will match consumer donations through March 15 up to $1 million.

For Coke,they also have the benefit of consumers picking up their product in store. According to CheckPoints’ Director of Communications Dave Heinzinger, “People are just more likely to buy something if they have it in their hands and then if the brand can incentivize them”.