Coca Cola targets teenagers again, this time with a graphic novel
Last week, Coca Cola introduced their new campaign targeting teenagers, 'the Ahh effect'. Following up on that, they have introduced a new campaign for Fanta, again targeting teenagers. This one is a digital graphic novel that allows users to play the characters. They seem to be putting serious effort into generating/increasing awareness among teenagers. Taking the digital route is the ideal option.
People of our generation didn't grow up with cellphones, tablets and fast internet connections. So we spent a lot of time in front of the television, and that is where we were targeted by the likes of Coca Cola. But, the teenagers of today very rarely watch TV. As a result, it takes a different approach to get their attention. Where they do spend time is using cellphones, social media websites and games.
The two latest campaigns targeting teenagers address this trend. Effectively or not is yet to be seen. Coca Cola seems to have understood how to go about promoting its brands on digital media. It has its sights set on engagement and 'stick', rather than just shifting traditional advertisements to digital formats like banners and promoted posts.
This is commendable because digital advertising in general is of arguably the worst quality possible at the moment. Majority of the mobile apps, web apps and other software services run a business model in which a free version of the product is provided to customers with advertisements. In order to upgrade to a better version, the primary benefit of which (in most cases) is a lack of advertisements.
Now, if people are willing to shell out money just to not look at these ads, you can imagine how poor the quality of these ads must be. Being a marketer, it is simply disheartening to see a message pop up in any of the apps saying 'Upgrade to the premium version to remove advertisements'.
Of course, the difference primarily arises from the fact that Coca Cola has the financial wherewithal to go ahead and launch such campaigns purely to build brand awareness. While the poor advertisements I'm talking about are primarily from small brands that cannot afford to spend big. But, I'm happy to see that Coca Cola is at least putting the money it has to good use.