‘Open Happiness’ campaign finds resonating ways to recognise life’s simple pleasures

By Kerryn Le Cordeur

Coca-Cola launched its global integrated marketing campaign, ‘Open Happiness’, in January 2009, to build on the positive outlook created by the award-winning ‘Coke Side of Life’ campaign. The fully integrated campaign includes TV spots; point-of sale; promotions; outdoor and print advertising; digital and music components; and more, which were rolled out during the first half of 2009. The global campaign was developed in partnership with Wieden + Kennedy, the global agency for the Coca-Cola brand since 2006.

The idea behind the campaign is that The Coca-Cola Company invites billions of people around the world who enjoy drinking the beverage to ‘Open Happiness’ and continue to enjoy one of life’s simple pleasures. Joe Tripodi, Chief Marketing and Commercial Leadership Officer, The Coca-Cola Company, explained that: “Throughout its history, Coca-Cola has always tried to express a refreshingly positive view of the world. ‘Open Happiness’ builds on that heritage, recognising that even with the difficulties and stress of modern-day life, there are still opportunities, every day, to find a moment to recognise life’s simple pleasures.” He adds that “Open Happiness is designed to work at every level – from national advertising all the way down to coolers and store shelves, with a clear call to action at the point of purchase.”

Aside from the more conventional advertising in the form of print ads and TV commercials, which first launched during the popular reality show, American Idol (making strategic sense, as the show is reknowned for the judges sipping from their Coca-Cola branded cups during proceedings), as well as outdoor advertising and in-store executions, music has also played a central role in the campaign, with a music track featured in one of the ads having been released as a successful single. The Open Happiness single is a collaboration featuring Gnarls Barkley’s Cee-Lo; Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy; Brendon Urie from Panic! at the Disco; Travis McCoy from Gym Class Heroes; and Grammy-nominated Janelle Monae. Produced by Polow Da Don and Butch Walker, it has become a genre-crossing hit globally. Coca-Cola Global Music Marketing Manager, Umut Ozaydinli, commented: “From our perspective, it was a logical choice to inspire people through music.” In an ad climate with declining TV viewership and increasing time spent online and consuming music, it was strategic to create a song that would be the central piece of an innovative global marketing campaign. In addition, the company illustrated its commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) by donating a percentage of sales from the single to charity through its ‘Live Positively’ platform.

Coca-Cola has also used social media successfully as part of this campaign, inviting individuals to upload their ‘happiness dance’ videos, to the Open Happiness single, onto its YouTube Channel, as well as creating viral videos, which have been viewed extensively. Taking its social media presence a step further, however, the company sent three bloggers to more than 200 countries in a year to uncover what makes people happy, as part of the ‘Open Happiness’ campaign, in what it called ‘Expedition 206’. Coca-Cola covered the bloggers’ travel expenses and paid them a salary to move from country to country; participate in local events; and blog about their experiences, while consumers could suggest a to-do list for them as the expedition unrolled. It is believed that this was one of the most serious social media marketing attempts undertaken by a big brand, pushing it to a new level; breaking the conventional Twitter and Facebook fan page marketing campaigns; and further enhancing Coca-Cola’s position in the market.

In South Africa, the campaign was launched in May 2009, just before the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, with a TV commercial titled ‘The Ultimate Goal’, directed by student film director, Mfundo Mkhize. Zayd Abrahams, Coca-Cola South Africa’s Strategic Marketing Manager, said that the commercial: “is a perfect reflection of how youth see soccer, and a great start to ‘Open Happiness’ in South Africa.” The concept is a fast-paced dream sequence set against an African-inspired remix of the Open Happiness track, which sees Mfundo encouraging the underdog team during the critical stage of a match, and the result is a depiction of optimism and hope – epitomising the idea behind the ‘Open Happiness’ campaign.

The ‘Open Happiness’ campaign was also used to activate the celebration and joy of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa through a series of planned commercials. The ‘History of Celebration’ commercial hit television and cinemas nationwide, and focuses on football’s most memorable moment and iconic corner celebration of Cameroon’s Roger Milla, after he scored a FIFA World Cup goal. The soundtrack for all commercials features Somalian singer, K’Naan, with the tournament’s theme tune of Wavin Flag – Coca-Cola celebration mix. The campaign is to reach 250 Coca-Cola markets across the globe.

Other examples of ads seen as part of this campaign, locally and internationally, include ‘Happiness Factory 3’, which was launched in March 2009 and continued the theme of the fantasy world inside a Coca-Cola vending machine. The ad once again featured the Open Happiness single, reinforcing the Coca-Cola brand and identity, and was extended to include a series of interactive video games and a gaming website, to engage with consumers.

Brand and communication strategist, Andy Rice, has also discussed an ‘Open Happiness’ instalment that shows a group of children against a bright fantasy background, who notice a zebra walking past. They follow the zebra and are lead into a fantastic carnival world of semi-reality. Interestingly, there is not a single Coca-Cola logo or product mention in the ad, yet the audience recognised that it was for the soft drink brand, based on the Open Happiness song alone.

According to Rice, that a key point to remember is that “Coke got big because it’s good – it did not become good because it is a big brand.” With the success of the ‘Open Happiness’ campaign, and integrating unique and resonating aspects such as a music component that can be filtered throughout the campaign to increase brand recognition and cohesion, as well as straddle the border between traditional and social media marketing to engage consumers, it is not difficult to see exactly why Coca-Cola has become the ‘good’ or well-known brand it is, fostering loyalty and support globally, and generating worldwide optimism despite the tough times we have experienced.