Beatrice Mackay

COCA COLA WORLD CUP AD RANKINGS Beatrice Mackay, ed. by Catherine Sheng Coca Cola has made its brand about more than just sweetened fizzy water. It has become a symbol of positive friendship and family values across the globe. Now that the World Cup has kicked off, what better stage for Coca Cola to spread and share its message of celebrating happy moments and to show a clear brand alignment between the World Cup and Coca Cola. Here at PBB, we took a look to see how they used and shared this message across different countries and to see the significance of having a culture-driven branding approach that can connect branding with meta (any culture that is deeply ingrained in a society) and pop culture. We believe that by using such a framework, your branding becomes much stronger and can resonate more effectively with your target consumers. We ranked these five ads from different countries out of 10 based on their storytelling and ability to connect meta and pop culture to make the perfect World Cup ad. 5. China This ad, featuring Chinese singer Luhan, is specifically made for social media viewing. Even with the need to be short and straightforward for someone browsing their news feed, the ad falls short of creating any sort of emotional resonance, nor does it exemplify Chinese meta culture. The presence of Coke in the ad is fairly strong, albeit with a cheap animation in the corner to briefly distract from Luhan’s robotic delivery, and the viewer does get a small sense of companionship that Coca Cola values. However, the ad falls flat in grabbing attention and promoting something valuable about Chinese culture. This is something that would pop up on your news feed and waste your time for twenty seconds while you try to find a way to skip over it. Grade: 4.5/10 4. Colombia The emphasis on the culture of soccer and the emotions it produces is what helps this ad stand out. What really works for this ad is the cinematic feel of the different teams pumping themselves up à la Friday Night Lights and the responses of their fans, young and old. The ad is also less about Coke itself and more about the values they represent, teamwork and camaraderie, which is obviously a gripping and interesting tactic compared to others. The ad does have some pretty confusing and easily avoidable issues, though. The contrast between the real soccer players acting and the actual actors makes the ad feel incredibly fake and contrived, along with the high quality of some of the clips. It’s obvious that they tried to make the ad feel authentic with the lower quality clips, but instead it comes off as lazy. What could have been a much more cohesive, elegant narrative is somewhat of a jumbled and distracting mess. Grade: 7.6/10 3. USA/UK/Global This ad pretty much ties with Colombia’s ad but in slightly different aspects. The ad is able to balance the presence of Coke and the narrative surrounding it, but is less about soccer or soccer culture. The ad is also able to showcase the American concept of a “melting pot” with people of many different backgrounds included in the narrative. The pacing is suspenseful and exciting for the viewer, since we have no clue where or why these people are running until the very end of the ad. Altogether, though, there is nothing especially eye-catching about the visuals, making this more of a classically “safe” ad as far as Coke standards go. The obligatory inclusion of the World Cup 2018 theme song doesn’t really help originality, either, but the storytelling has some substantial creativity. Grade: 7.8/10 2. Iceland If any ad in this ranking gets a perfect grade for cinematography and culture, it’s this one. Directed by one of Iceland’s national team players, we get a complete example of togetherness that both Coca Cola and Iceland hold dear. The special aspects of this ad are its focus on nature and the simple beauty that is found in it and in coming together as a nation to celebrate and appreciate sports. The subtle but poignant rhythm found throughout the ad speeds up as the action does, helping amp up the energy. The other unique insight we get is what Iceland projects onto the world and also how the world views Iceland: volcanic beaches, fisherman’s sweaters, calm landscapes, and so on. The only unfortunate aspect of the ad is its lack of viewers. The ad was apparently only shown in Iceland, so anyone outside the country would have to actively search for it. Nevertheless, it is a powerful and invigorating look at a culture with impeccable and professional visuals. Grade: 8/10 1. Nigeria/Western Africa If Iceland’s ad had been distributed more widely than it was, it would have taken this ad’s spot as the best of the five. Nigeria brings us an ad with a plot and an interesting and thoughtful integration of the viewer into different cultural activities as shown throughout the narrative. The color palette is immediately striking, evoking the colors of the flag (green and white) with other natural colors like red and yellow, giving it a more humble, homey feel. The ad succeeds in blending the culture, Coke, and soccer into one plot in which the product placement isn’t overpowering or distracting. It could be fairly easy to miss what’s happening in the beginning because of the fast camerawork. The boys’ soccer field board in his bedroom is not the definite focus of the opening shots, and the viewer can quickly lose track of what he’s doing since the shots are so quick. Overall, the ad tells a complete story while also giving us a down-to-earth look at the Nigerian culture through a boy’s simple drive to complete his player collection. Simplicity and subdued visuals are what gives this ad a fresh and excellent contrast to the others. Grade: 8.5/10