The Coca-Cola Company unveiled today a new global brand philosophy and platform called Real Magic for its Coca-Cola brand, which invites everyone to celebrate the real magic of humanity.
“Real Magic is not simply a tagline or a one-off campaign: It is a long-term brand philosophy and belief that will drive and guide marketing and communications across the Coca-Cola Trademark,” Manuel Arroyo (Chief Marketing Officer, The Coca-Cola company) underscores.
Real Magic marks the first new global brand platform for Coca-Cola since 2016 and is being launched alongside a refreshed visual identity, as well as a new perspective on the Coca-Cola logo that will feature across Coca-Cola marketing.
The new “Hug” logo lifts (curves round) the Coca-Cola trademark on bottle and can labels to provide a visual signature that will embrace and frame moments of magic across Coca-Cola’s communications.
The platform is built from lessons of the last 18 months: that we can find magic all around us when we come together in unexpected moments that elevate the everyday into the extraordinary. It also acknowledges the many contradictions experienced as new generations find harmony and human connection in a virtual and divided world.
Increasing the Coca-Cola consumer base through diversity in visuals and touch points
Coca-Cola is collaborating with artists, photographers and illustrators to bring the concept of Real Magic to life through the embrace of the Hug logo. Through their own distinct and unfiltered lenses, they will bring moments of everyday magic to life in ways that are inclusive and collective, yet also individual and expressive. Design partners include Wieden+Kennedy London, KnownUnknown and Kenyon Weston.
“Coca-Cola is a brand defined by dichotomies: humble but iconic, authentic yet secret, real yet magical,” says Manolo Arroyo, Chief Marketing Officer for The Coca-Cola Company.
“The Real Magic philosophy is rooted in the belief that dichotomies can make the world a more interesting place, a world of extraordinary people, unexpected opportunities and wonderful moments. At the same time, it captures the essence of Coca-Cola itself: a real taste that is indescribable, unique, a touch of real magic,” he adds.
“This is the most diverse visual representation of the Coca-Cola brand in our history,” said Rapha Abreu, Global Vice President of Design, The Coca-Cola Company. “It is diverse not only in the creatives who helped bring ‘Real Magic’ to life and the people featured in the work, but also in the different photography and illustration styles, colors and treatments used.”
The goal of “Real Magic”, Arroyo said, is to significantly increase the Coca-Cola consumer base through an ecosystem of experiences anchored in consumption occasions, such as meals and breaks, and merged with consumer passion points like music and gaming.
Just “One Coke from Each Other”, so small the difference is between us in the epic e-game tale
Coca-Cola has partnered with advertising agency BETC London, as well as with leading film director Daniel Wolfe and gaming and CGI specialist production partner Mathematic, to create the “One Coke Away From Each Other” campaign.
The newest Coca-Cola story features an epic tale at the crossroads of worlds where a fearless warrior and a young gamer will pave the way to a new dawn, change the course of history… and unveil the true meaning of Real Magic.
The campaign blends real and virtual worlds, it is a metaphor that speaks to the belief that what unites us is greater than what sets us apart and celebrates our common humanity.
The film, which launched digitally on Sept. 27th, asks what if Coca-Cola, as a symbol of togetherness, could bridge universes meant to be apart to create Real Magic. The film also features three well-known gamers DJ Alan Walker, Team Liquid’s Aerial Powers and Average Jonas.
The campaign features social and digital executions, as well as out-of-home creative pieces.
In select markets, Coca-Cola is running a code hunt beginning Oct. 11 where people can win prizes, including gameplay sessions with celebrity gamers. There are 25 codes hidden within the film.
Through collaboration with the Brand Partnership Studio at Twitch, the interactive livestreaming service, gaming creators on Twitch will unlock another 10 codes with their viewers during livestreams on their Twitch channels.
As a part of the campaign, Coca-Cola will award prizes to consumers who find and enter the hidden codes on a Coca-Cola micro-site, in participating countries. Winners have the chance to receive their share of one of the largest ever prize pools of Bits, a virtual good used to show support for Twitch streamers, as a part of the sweepstakes administered by Coca-Cola.
“Through the Real Magic platform, we ultimately want to engage people very differently through an ecosystem of unique and ownable experiences,” Manuel Arroyo (Chief Marketing Officer for The Coca-Cola Company) explains,”One Coke Away From Each Other’ has been built for, and with, a community that demands something different than what they may have come to expect from Coca-Cola. In developing this campaign, we’ve partnered with the best creators, with gamers, with Twitch and with others to find our place in a reality unlike any we’ve known before. That’s tremendously exciting.”
More than a platform and a campaign, a real movement
“We’re at an inflection point,” said Manolo Arroyo, Chief Marketing Officer, The Coca-Cola Company. “The last 18 months have disrupted every aspect of life and presented us with a once-in-a-generation choice to go back to a binary, black-and-white way of seeing the world or help make the world a better place. ‘Real Magic’ is about creating a movement to choose a more human way of doing things by embracing our unique perspectives.”
