If you were to ask most people in the world today which brands they consider to be the most globally recognisable, Coca-Cola would most likely make most people’s top three.
Enduringly successful across a huge variety of international markets, Coca-Cola has grown from its humble Atlanta roots to become an indisputably global brand, as prevalent in Middle Eastern culture for example, as it is in Western Europe.
You would think then, that having such a storied and time-honoured legacy might hinder the work of its creatives, bending under the pressure of over 130 years’-worth of iconic campaigns – but if Coca-Cola’s 2023 creative output is anything to go by, this couldn’t be further from the case.
At Frontify’s Paradigms brand experience summit in Lisbon, Marketing Beat caught up with the brand’s global design officer, Rapha Abreu, who explained how and why Coca-Cola’s marketing team seems to be able to do no wrong at the moment.
Is Coca-Cola’s legacy a burden?
Key of course to Coca-Cola’s success is its extensive brand legacy. It informs every aspect of its identity and helps tie together generation after generation through shared experiences of the brand and its product.
Abreu certainly believes that this is the case – highlighting how Coke’s colossal global presence serves as an immovable anchor point.
“Everything has changed and nothing has changed. Yes, we have AI have technology, new generations, new people drinking other types of beverages and demanding different things from companies and products, but we have a legacy, right?
“It’s about creating an authentic self throughout time, and by also bringing novelty, that’s how you keep your brand alive and relevant, you keep it timely. That constant timeliness is what makes the brand timeless in a way.”
For a long-established brand like Coke, getting its messaging on point is vital – it pays careful attention to when its needs to branch out and when it just needs to do more of the same.
“It’s pretty much what we discuss every day,” Abreu says. “When are the moments that we’re going to be different and infuse something new, and when are we going to remain still and reassuring.”
You might think that the weight of Coca-Cola’s brand legacy might stifle creativity and create an intensely pressurised environment – not so, according to Abreu. He feels that the brand loyalty Coke has built up gives its creatives more leeway than other brands.
“When you when you have a brand that has been there for such a long time, that is loved, that people drink and recognise, you have more licence to try new things.”
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Real Magic
Not only has Coke’s illustrious brand legacy help shape its success over the decades, but also the constantly unique innovation of its creative output.
Its current brand platform, ‘Real Magic’ has proved an unqualified success over the past year – with the brand crediting its marketing and advertising division with driving its impressive second quarter growth in 2023.
“Being unique and innovative is so crucial,” Abreu says. “We’re always trying to find what is true to our brand, to our values and to our product.
“We never obsess over the competition, because they are doing their own thing and we are doing ours.”
This is where the beauty of Real Magic comes in. It is genuinely innovative and genuinely unique, spearheaded by Coca-Cola’s ‘Masterpiece’ ad released earlier this year – which featured a CGI extravaganza set within the confines of a New York art museum.
In a sense, Abreu adds, ‘Real Magic’ perfectly encapsulates Coke and its brand vision.
“I love this tagline. Because I think that’s what Coca-Cola is, it’s that combination of something real – the beverage that we drink around the world – but there’s also some sort of magic around the product, even mysticism around the secret formula of the brand.
“Real Magic also has a level of simplicity that I think is very in tune with the brand, as well as this emotional connection that goes beyond the product itself.”
AI: Friend or foe?
Within the fabulously animated ‘Masterpiece’, Abreu reveals that stable diffusion AI was used to help maintain the bottle’s appearance when transitioning through the variety of painting styles. He remains reticent to comment on its wider impact on the creative industry, asserting that first and foremost, AI is a valuable tool to help drive campaign creativity and efficiency.
“AI hasn’t really impacted our work other than in the sense that we now we have a lot more different tools that we can explore. That’s certainly my vision for AI: an amazing new tool we need to explore.”
Echoing the thought of many creatives across the industry however, Abreu doesn’t see AI replacing the human touch anytime soon. Although he finds it to be a capable assistant, it simply cannot innovate on a human scale.
“I don’t believe, especially when you’re talking about generative AI and the conversations around what is replacing text and imagery – that human craft and the creativity can still not be matched by AI.
“It’s great for the quick visualisation of ideas, and if you have something, a design or an intent, you can prompt there and it comes to life. It’s good, but I don’t think it’s anywhere near to producing a final output product to aired in the world.”
Although it might only be a matter of time before Coca-Cola and other major brands adopt AI at scale, while the human touch is still crafting immensely popular campaigns such as ‘Real Magic’ – if it ain’t broke, why fix it?
