Coca-Cola Co. developed an innovative way to embellish its sponsorship of the Olympic Games by leveraging packaging. Specially designed cans and bottles of Coca-Cola gave the company a window to tie the brand’s identity together with the ideals of wholesomeness and the positive aura of the Summer Olympic Games in August in Beijing, China.
The company accomplished those objectives by creating Olympic-themed cans and bottles bearing a multitude of design variations that were marketed in region-appropriate packaging to more than 150 countries.
Coca-Cola, Atlanta, GA, has been a continuous sponsor of the Olympic Games since 1928. It has never produced Olympic-themed packaging on such a grandiose scale.
The packaging’s graphic elements and guidelines incorporate brand elements from both the East and West. The company’s approach positioned Coca-Cola as an active participant in the Beijing Games, rather than a passive sponsor, says Kevin Tressler, Director of Worldwide Sports and Entertainment Marketing at Coca-Cola.”
“Packaging is the best way to interact with consumers,” Tressler adds. “The broadest aspect of the program is the rollout of commemorative packaging that, more than anything else, indicates the company’s support of this year’s Olympic Games.”
Coca-Cola, working with Schawk and its Anthem Worldwide division, created eye-catching color bands, rich graphics, and text in different languages on 12-oz cans and on limited-edition, 20-oz PET, contoured-glass and -aluminum bottles.
The graphics feature the Olympic rings, the date 08.08.08 representing the start of the Beijing Games, and other imagery associated with Coca-Cola’s Olympics sponsorship.
Special labeling features Chinese characters used to phonetically pronounce Coca-Cola. The characters form the trademark for Coca-Cola in mainland China. Along with the Chinese rendition of the trademark in the familiar Coca-Cola Spencerian script, the traditional spelling of Coca-Cola in the local language also appeared on commemorative bottles or cans.
In the U.S., collectible cans and “FridgePacks”—paperboard cartons dispensing 12 cans—began appearing May 19. The cans took the form of a six-pack featuring photography of various U.S. gold medalists. In other countries, special packaging rolled out in languages such as Ethiopian, Russian, Thai, and Mandarin.
The 20-oz bottles featured festive labels in multiple languages, including those of the U.S., Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Korea, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
Anthem worked with Coca-Cola to create, refine, and coordinate the overall design strategy. Michael Coleman, Managing Director of Anthem’s Chicago, IL, office, tells Shelf Impact! that Anthem offices globally collaborated with Coca-Cola on the design parameters. They decided on several design systems, with eight to 12 SKUs in each design system. Each region had sufficient latitude to adapt the central artwork to suit local cultures and remain within the confines of the overall design strategy, Coleman explains.
By Jim George, Editor-in-Chief
