Coca-Cola Say Show Us Your Celebration

Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief

Coca-Cola is encouraging Fifa World Cup fans to celebrate in Piccadilly Circus, London as part of their ‘What’s Your Celebration” marketing activation and rewarding them with their own celebration video being played on the famous digital sign.

During every World Cup match live scores and Sky World Cup news run on the famous digital sign. Tapping into this captive audience is a small team of brand ambassadors using a laptop interface to interrupt the live scores and ‘talk’ to target consumers live via the sign.

When a consumer is engaged they are then encouraged to find a dedicated football corner flag and Astroturf area in the circus where their unique celebration will be filmed and uploaded to the sign.

Whilst Coca-Cola has run other interactive campaigns in the past utilising Bluetooth and web based messaging, this is the first time consumers have been able to see themselves on any digital screen in Piccadilly Circus. Each video is uploaded to the sign in under 90 seconds quickly completing the reward loop.

Account Director Alastair Patrick told us that “the idea was born from qualitative research that showed what consumers want to see most on the screen is themselves. This is true interactivity; it’s fun, surprising and rewarding, yet doesn’t ask much of the consumer. It perfectly encapsulates the Coca-Cola World Cup core creative idea of – What’s Your Celebration? – and plays perfectly to the multinational context of Piccadilly Circus”.

The technical set-up is surprisingly simple utilising a wireless network, netbook and camcorder. The bespoke software allows for on the go moderation, so all text and video can be reviewed before being uploaded to the sign, this allows the campaign to incredibly responsive and engage directly with consumers in the area.

Initial results have been very encouraging, with over 30 video’s uploaded in the England vs. Slovenia match on Wed 23rd June.

The entire campaign from concept to going live was delivered by design agency Sedley Place, who’s association with Coca-Cola and Piccadilly spans back to first non-neon sign installed in 1997.

About Sedley Place

Sedley Place is an independent design agency with a 30 year heritage. The agency’s skills are diverse: from brand strategy and premium packaging design to interior design, websites and digital animation.

Sedley Place has 30 staff split across London and Edinburgh offices yet work with businesses and organisations all over the world. Some of notable past projects include the design of current Coca-Cola Piccadilly Sign and all campaign delivered, the Royal Mail Logo and packaging design for Johnny Walker, Tanqueray and The Singleton.

Sedley Place’s core agency positioning is “Building Desire”. This is the central approach to all briefs and deliverables and is born from experience as the key underlying challenge all our clients face. All solutions deliver by ensuring they are crafted beautifully and ensuring the communication is the right balance of context, contact and content.


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